Fire Gem
by ScarletRavenwood
Summary: Elena Brighton was that girl that was far too smart for her own good. Graduated MIT at the age of 15 she was one of the best hackers and engineers around New York. So she wasn't surprised that she received a call from her Uncle's close friend to help him with a project in space. (Slow burn)
1. Bond James Bond

**_PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE. I KNOW THEY'RE ANNOYING BUT IT'S IMPORTANT!_**

 ** _This is just a heads up! I'm gonna be uploading like ever other day or so, since I already have this completely written out and just need to post it. So push NEXT, leave a REVIEW, and ENJOY!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**

* * *

 _Touch has always been a thing she struggled with. A single touch. You couldn't blame her, it was the touch of her loved ones that tore everything apart from her. It was touch that ripped her life apart. But it was touch that helped her heal._

 _Elena Brighton was that girl that was far too smart for her own good. Graduated MIT at the age of 15 she was one of the best hackers and engineers around New York. So she wasn't surprised that she received a call from her Uncle's close friend to help him with a project in space._

Three people were standing on a catwalk with the two men holding binoculars to their eyes. Elena simply leaned against the railing seeing a cloud of dust make its way towards them. It was really a girl driving her car making out with a guy riding his motorcycle, this guy was to be their pilot.

"I can't do it. Can't do it," Ben muttered.

"I'm with Ben, if this guy is pulling this now, what is he going to do when flying a **space shuttle?** " the brunette questioned.

"What are you talking about? Ben you were the best pilot at NASA!" Reed exclaimed.

"It's not that, I can't take orders from the underwear model!" Ben argued making her raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sure he isn't that bad," Reed spoke.

"He got kicked out because he snuck two Victoria Secret wannabes into a flight simulator."

Reed smiled, trying to look on the bright side of things, "Youthful high spirits."

"They crashed it into a wall. A **flight SIMULATOR!** " Ben retorted.

"Oh come on. How many times have I asked you two to do something you absolutely couldn't do?" Reed asked.

The two shared a look before looking at Reed, "5 times," they said in unison before walking away.

"I had it at four," Reed smirked.

"Well this makes five!" Ben shouted behind him before they all walked down to get changed.

"Reed," the short haired brunette scorned, "I think I can find the changing rooms myself," her grey eyes sparkled at her Uncle's friends antics, "Thank you though," she patted his shoulder before walking down the hall to quickly change. The blue jump suit looked skin tight and when Elena saw Susan Storm finish zipping hers up, she knew her suspicions were right, "Not bad," Elena mused notifying Susan of her presence.

The blonde turned around and her eyes widened at the 23 year old, "Eli!" she smiled before wrapping the 5'5" girl into a tight hug, "Oh! It's so good to see you!" Elena smiled, she and Susan were once extremely close friends, but due to work and personal things, the two drifted apart, "I like the hair," she smirked seeing the loose wavy brown hair that touched the middle of her tan neck.

"I missed you too, Susan," Elena smiled setting her bag down on the bench in the room and proceeded to strip. The two had once stood in a bedroom wearing only underwear a few years back while switching clothes, so this was normal. Susan's eyes immediately went to the white mark on Elena's stomach before packing up her own bag. Once in the tight, yet comfortable jump suit, Elena braided her hair back a bit to keep it from hanging in her eyes. The two woman looked at each other and smiled, "How's Victor?" she teasingly cooed storing her bag into her designated port. She saw Reed's name as well as the other members of the team.

"Good," Susan smiled, "How's the computers?" the two decided to check up on the men and seeing if they were ready, then Susan noticed the Von Doom scientists watching Elena carefully, "What's up with them?"

Elena glanced back and rolled her eyes, "They know about that dare a those years ago and are scared I'm going to do the same."

Susan laughed, "Hey I need to pick somethings up, meet you in there?" Elena nodded before walking to where she left Reed and her uncle. As she approached the area she heard a calm silence over the room making her lean against the door frame happily and out of sight.

The two were getting ready for the flight. Ben was packing his bag since Reed had already packed his. Ben was looking at a picture he used as a bookmark, it was of him and his fiancé, Debbie, "I miss you already, Debbie."

"CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!" a voice shouted making Elena flinch and Ben fly to his feet and standing stiff to attention in a blink of an eye. There was a flash of light from a camera which brought Ben out of his military stance and his face flush with anger, "Digital camera - $254. Memory stick - $59. The look on your hard-ass former CO's face when he finds out he's your junior officer. Priceless," the blonde who was speaking was unmistakably Johnny Storm, who loved to rub his accomplishments in the face of others, his current target was Ben Grimm.

"I can handle the ship," Ben stated making Elena smile as he turned to face Dr. Reed Richards who sat on a couch behind his laptop smirking at the two, "I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition," he gestured with his thumb towards Johnny as he made his way to the closet before pulling out the dark blue space suit he was assigned, "But I don't know whether I should be flying or doing Swan Lake in these suits," he mused frowning at the tight material as Reed grinned.

Elena pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against and walked into the room, "Well, at least you got the title right this time," Johnny's head immediately snapped up to her, more like her body which was emphasized in the blue suit. She looked toned, extremely toned, but with good curves that made Johnny want to rip the suit off her and take her right then and there, "I mean, how many times did I perform that routine and you still didn't get the name right," her plump dark pink lips were pulled into a smirk.

"Hey," Ben said defensively making her pull a face.

She leaned against the wall near Ben, "Trust me," she said shaking her head at Ben, "These are not that bad compared to other things I've worn," Johnny wanted her, he wanted her badly, and she hadn't even glanced at him, but Ben had and he saw the way he was watching Elena.

"Well you could still be performing if you stayed back with Debs."

"And miss out of a space adventure with the most talkative scientist ever and my favorite uncle?"

 _Uncle?_ Johnny stared startled, looking between Elena and Ben furiously.

"I'm your only uncle, Elena," Ben sighed making her scoff and cross her arms across her chest. Johnny immediately knew he was caught when her striking grey eyes latched onto his blue ones. Her once playful scowl deepened into a harsh one making Johnny shocked. That wasn't the reaction he was prone to from a woman.

"Can you not?" she growled looking directly at Johnny.

He was at a lost, but with a quick recovery he smirk, "The name's Storm. Johnny Storm," he spoke huskily and took a bold step towards her with his hand out for her to shake. Elena glanced at Ben and Reed to see if he was for real.

She looked at Johnny with a bemused look, "Who do you think you are? James Bond?" she refused to return the gesture before walking over to Reed's computer but was shot a look from the Von Doom security guy standing in the room, "Jeez."

"Who the hell came up with these suits?" Ben asked as Elena sulked back to his side as Reed closed his laptop and hid it form her.

"The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your body's individual needs," Susan walked in holding a pile of unknown grey cloths on her hip. Reed's head snapped up and his eyes widened at the sight of the blonde.

"Now that means, it keeps the hot stuff hot and the cool stuff cool," Johnny explained being very animated with his arms. Elena glanced over to him with an arched brow that was shades lighter than her hair, he caught her eye and sent a wink making her just look at his surprised. They broke eye contact the moment Reed walked up, his eyes dead set on Susan's body.

"Wow, fantastic," Reed breathed, his words easily mistaken to be directed at Sue. She thought the same and smiled confidently with a lift of her chin. Reed smiled and reached for the suit in Ben's hands, clutching the material, "A material made from self-regulating unstable molecules," Elena was quick to notice how fast Sue's smile feel as she blinked back to reality. Hitting her palm to her forehead she exchanged a quick look with Ben who placed his hands on his hips. Hiding how disappointed he was with his friend, "I've been working on a formula for this."

"Great minds think alike," Sue said bitterly as Elena shifted her gaze over to the one who was burning holes into her face. Johnny was still staring at her, "Here you go Ben," Sue smiled sweetly handing him one of the grey suits in her arm.

"Thanks sweetie," Ben smiled as Elena slowly walked over to where Reed hid his computer.

"Reed," she almost snapped throwing him the grey suit.

"Sue, this is Elena," Johnny said as he was handed a suit making her stop moving since she was caught by Susan's eyes.

"Oh, I already know Elena," Sue smiled as she handed the brunette her own suit.

"Yeah, Susie and I are close," she smirked before scratching at the side of her neck which Johnny found adorable. Johnny watched Elena as she pulled on the grey suit over her blue one, leaving a bit open for her ample cleavage. Ben Grimm noticed and immediately sent the playboy a death glare making Johnny quickly avert his gaze before walking ahead.

* * *

The shuttle docked and the six members of the team stepped out. Victor was in front leading the way, "ETA until cosmic event: 9 hours," he spoke as Johnny, Ben and Elena came out next carrying their own equipment.

"If you're good maybe next time Daddy'll let you drive," Johnny taunted.

"Keep talking and there won't be a next time," Ben growled making Elena smirk.

"So you're Ben's niece?" Johnny inquired as they walked the long corridor to the space station, he was clutching two metal brief cases in each hand while Elena had a computer balanced on her arm, "How's that possible?"

"What do you mean?" she questioned before glancing over to him.

"Well, you're hotter than the sun, prettier than a diamond and he's—"

"I dare you to finish that," she growled making Johnny stunned by her aggressive turn. Dumbly, Johnny turned on his charm, trying to get on her good side.

"I like 'em feisty," he purred taking a bold step towards her, but something flashed through her eyes and she scowled.

"That's it! Keep walking Johnny-boy," Ben ordered grabbing him by the collar and pulling him along after seeing the flash in Elena's eyes.

They all walked into a huge room, "We can monitor the storm and assess the findings from here," Sue spoke. Johnny went to go put down the boxes he was carrying and Sue went to the console as Elena continued to type on her laptop.

"You sure it's safe in here?" Ben questioned nervously.

"The shields should protect us," Reed half heartedly assured him.

"Should?" Ben questioned making Elena glance up for a moment before typing again, she was so close to the satellites and she could taste it.

"What's the matter Ben? Getting paranoid in your old age?" Victor taunted making Ben send him a glare.

"Let's start loading those samples. Ben get your suit ready, Elena upload the data with him," Reed spoke making Ben nod and Elena blindly walked forward, she didn't even glance up and almost ran into the railing if Johnny hadn't lightly pushed her out of the way, still didn't look up.

"I see you're still doing all the heavy lifting," Victor continued making Ben and Elena stop, "Reed you should have stayed at the lab. Field work never suited you," Sue and Johnny were now watching the argument take place, "Elena, shouldn't you **_not_** have your hands on a computer?"

"I'm in space, the government can't touch me," Elena growled setting her search now for something embarrassing of Victor.

"She does the typing. He does the talking. I do the walking," Ben spoke defending Elena and Reed.

"Then take a walk, Ben," Victor retorted making Elena hit enter loudly, uploading a picture of Victor that was priceless.

"Oh cool, it's trending," Elena stated out loud to herself before mockingly glaring at Victor with a smirk that made him uncomfortable.

"If you could all excuse me for a moment, I need to borrow Susan," this made everyone walk out and Ben glance at Elena's screen seeing a bunch of data that he didn't understand.

* * *

She immediately smirked as she began typing into her computer, going to the area where Ben would go plant Reed's flowers. She got the system's ready as she set up her station, right by the portal. Ben and Johnny entered the room and began to get Ben ready.

"Please tell me your boy isn't trying to rekindle things with my sister," his voice sounded in a pleading tone.

"Of course not. Strictly business," Ben assured standing as still as possible.

"Yeah, well his eyes say differently," Johnny retorted.

"Look, two hearts were broken last time. Maybe she's not over it either," Ben deafeningly spoke.

"Wow, Dr. Phil, that's deep," Johnny teased, "Let's think about this for a second. We have Victor, more money than God, stud of the year and then we have Reed. The worlds dumbest smart guy and worth less than a postage stamp. Jeez it's a toss up," he said taking the flowers from Elena's station and hooking it up to Ben's suit.

"Don't worry your tiny head," Ben retorted, "And don't you dare do what you did those years ago," Ben said snapping Elena out of her daze.

She smirked before swirling around on her stool, "And how would I do that, way up here?" she gestured to the stars and galaxy outside, but Ben sent her a look. She raised her hands in surrender and stood up.

"Don't wander off now, boy," Johnny retorted walking down the steps as Elena stayed back, looking to her uncle.

"How long is this gonna take?" she asked poking his white space suit.

"As long as it takes to arrange Reed's petunias," Ben answered in his Brooklyn accent.

"I hate petunias," she jested, "Is it safe?" she asked uncertainly.

"Sure thing doll—"

"Don't call her doll," Ben snapped glaring at Johnny who grinned. Elena kissed his helmet before walking back to her computer, standing next to Johnny as he secured the airlock chamber. Elena stared out the clear glass as her uncle gave her and Johnny a thumbs up, before walking through the shutter like door that expanded for him. There was a silence between the two as they watched Ben leave the space station. Johnny glanced at Elena who was nervously glancing her computer and then Ben, his mind was buzzing for answers.

"What's this dare I keep hearing about?" Johnny asked curiously.

"That a trick question?" she mused smirking.

Johnny dramatically clutched his heart and rose his hand to his head, "Ohhhhh," she slightly chuckled making him straighten up, "But seriously, why is everyone so cautious around you?"

"Let's just say, back on earth, the government isn't my greatest fan."

This shocked Johnny, "What did you do? Assault a police officer?" she shook her head, her grey eyes swirling with mischief.

"Can't tell you," she smirked, "But I warn you, stay on my good side or else your darkest secrets will be known to the world."

Johnny smirked, stepping closer to her staring down into her grey eyes, "The thing is, I have a weakness for bad girls," his voice was deep and lustful. She was started by the cavernous blue in his eyes, she remained silent as she kept her grey eyes locked onto his. He took small, generous and cautious, but she surprised him by turning away, to have a woman care so little for his presence.

The two stood next to each other and Elena practically jumped a foot in the air when Reed came running in, "Ben you need to get back inside!" he cried.

"What's going on?" Johnny questioned in all seriousness as Reed approached them.

"I ain't done arranging your flowers yet, egghead," Ben's voice echoed in Johnny and Elena's earpieces.

"Ben. TURN AROUND." Reed exclaimed approaching the glass window making Elena look out with her eyes widening.

"BEN!" Elena screamed in fear staring at the strange fiery steam with swirling glowing tendrils that wiped the air, it was approaching them rapidly.

"Guys, I'm not gonna make it," Ben stammered.

"Ben you gotta jump, it's the only way!" Johnny responded as Elena began to fear for her uncle even more. Reed looked at Johnny like he was crazy as Elena felt helpless as Ben jumped out and flew towards them with the red storm hot on his heels.

"Ben!" Elena breathed feeling a tear roll down her face as she clutched the diamond necklace he gave her for her 18th birthday.

"Come on, Ben you got it!" Johnny yelled encouragingly his eyebrows furrowed in worry. Elena immediately grasped the closets hand to her as she saw Ben stare back at her as he drew closer and closer.

"Johnny, Elena, get ready to close the portal," Reed instructed as Ben neared the entrance. Johnny gripped Elena's hand and pulled her to the panel. She furiously punching in codes before her head snapped up when she heard Ben went smack against he glass, "Ben!" Elena screamed as the machines around them startled to spark widely but Johnny held her back as she cried out in frustration as just as the storm consumed the shell of the space port.

A blinding light hit the two before a blast of air sent their bodies throttling back, a cry escaped her lips as Johnny latched onto her arm. She screamed alongside Johnny as hot coal pain pulsed through them, she felt as if fire was burning her skin, diamonds was slicing it open and a bright light was blinding her. She felt weightless, her grip was stronger than before everything faded into darkness.

* * *

 ** _AN: This is shorter than my usual chapter amount. BUT I like it….so what do you think the dare was? And AWWWWWW Johnny was protecting Elena, how cute! Anyways. Leave a review and no flames!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	2. It Happened Again

Johnny was one of the first to get up after how they had all miraculously survived and was back home on earth in one of Victor's medical facilities. First thing he did was check up on his sister, who he had trouble finding through the vast amount of flowers decorating her room, Victor's doing no doubt. He checked on Reed and even Ben before struggling to find Elena's room.

"Excuse me, where's Elena's room?" he question a doctor who glanced down at his charts.

"Miss Brighton's room is down the hall on the right, across the way from Mr. Grimm," the man walked away and Johnny hit himself for being so dense.

"Brighton, huh?" Johnny mused walking towards her room. When he walked in, he saw how dim the lights in her room was, but even then, her tan skin was glowing. Johnny sat down in the chair next to her bed. Seeing her sleeping was kinda calming to Johnny, he was scared no terrified during the blast from the storm and she gripped him like he could save her, no one had ever did that. His eyes roamed over her glowing tan skin, seeing her wearing a blank tank top and what looked like a navy blue sports bra underneath. His eyes landed on her diamond necklace around her neck. A single stone, small and delicate on a gold chain that rested on the hallow of her neck. He wondered who gave it to her. Her long lashes hit the apples of her cheeks, but when he glanced up at her hair he saw a small bit of blonde peaking through her roots. _Natural blonde._

The next day, Richard walked into her room and was surprised when he saw Johnny sitting next to the youngest member of their team, "Hey," he whispered walking up to Elena's bedside, "She wake up yet?" Johnny shook his head before hearing a small whimper come from the lone girl in the room.

"Wha—" she horsey whispered, "Where am I?" she blinked her eyes rapidly before glancing around the room, "Johnny?" she breathed with a ghosted smile over her lips.

"Yeah, doll face," he smiled, "Reed's here too," her grey eyes flitted over to the doctor and her smile widened.

"Reed," she whispered, "Where are we? Where's Sue and Ben?" her eyes dilated in panic.

"We're at one of Victor's medical facilities. Ben and Sue are both fine," Reed explained, "We're all under quarantine though," her brows furrowed as she sat up. Both men moved to help her as they saw her wince, she smiled in thanks as she stood onto her own feet. Johnny looked at the grey sweat short shorts she wore before pulling on a pair of brown Uggs on her feet, "Wow, where do you think you're going?"

Elena looked at Reed like he was crazy, "I'm going to find my uncle then get something to eat," Johnny took in how she was fuming at Reed, "I feel fine, Reed," she lightly laughed before walking towards the door.

"Let me take you there," Johnny said following behind her, she looked at him, "I literally just checked on him, doctors say he wont be awake for another day or so."

Elena nodded meekly before looking around, before catching a glimpse of the world outside, "Are we in the Alps?" she questioned before looking at the blonde who smiled wickedly, "How long have you been awake?"

He shrugged before leading them down the hall, "I woke up yesterday, saw Sue and Reed then Ben, found you. Today came and here we are."

Elena nodded before brushing a piece of her hair out of her face, "You feeling okay?" she asked glancing down at the mark on both their arms where the held onto each other during the blast. His left, her right. He nodded as they rounded the corner. Then the smell of food hit them, "Oh my god, yes," she moaned electing something out Johnny as she took off after the smell and saw loads of food, "Thank you lord," she whispered as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She smiled as she grabbed a bagel and cream cheese before pouring herself a cup of coffee with two milks and three sugars. Johnny watched her the entire time, as well as some of the business people who happened to be there. Her tan tone legs were on full display for all the men to see and she clearly didn't care. She waved Johnny over as she took a long sip of her coffee. Johnny smirked before getting his own food. She seemed too happy for the moment and then he glanced up to see the lights slightly dimming. The two ate in silence and when Elena ran out of coffee the two finally started talking, well Johnny did most of the talking. Elena simply listened. She liked how as her head buzzed his voiced soothed it over. The two spent the day exploring, neither one wanting to set into the reality of what might've happened to them.

* * *

The next day, Elena was brought out of her room by the sound of her uncle yelling. When she stepped out she saw Johnny running out.

"What did you do?" she slightly growled. Johnny looked over at her and couldn't help but find her messy bed hair extremely sexy. The light blonde was becoming more prominent and she probably needed to re-dye it.

"Easy there," Johnny smirked making her extremely annoyed.

"Why is there a mirror broken?" she asked as her gaze met the shattered pieces of the reflective glass.

"Hmm?" Johnny snapped out of his daze of gawking at her and followed her grey eyes, "Ben saw his reflection, didn't like what he saw and took his anger on this mirror," Elena rolled her eyes and softly smiled. He felt accomplished.

"Funny," she snorted before pushing past him, carefully stepping over the jagged glass and walked into her uncle's room. Johnny stared after her, today she wore tight black leggings and a cream sweater that was snug on her. His gaze was mainly focused on her shapely ass and how good it looked.

Johnny's lips were pulled into a smile and he licked the bottom part of his lips before turning away from the door just as Reed walked through.

"Hey," the doctor greeted.

"Hey," Johnny did a double take, surprise written across his face as he took in the scientist's appearance, "Nice do, liking the grandpa look," Johnny slightly complimented enthusiastically gesturing his hands to the sides of his head making Reed give him a confused and bewildered look.

"Hey Uncle Ben," Elena smiled walking into his room, "How you feeling?" Ben smiled at Elena as she sat on his bed.

"Good, if that brat Johnny didn't give me a heart attack," Elena smiled brightly but then Ben frowned seeing the cut on her arm from where Johnny's nails dug into her which reminded him of the same ones on Johnny's arm from her nails, "Elena, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have allowed Reed to take you up there."

Immediately Elena took Ben's hand and shh'd him, "Hey, it's alright. I was more worried about you than anyone else," Elena stated, "Everything is back to normal," she smiled, "I'm just happy that I can have my computer back."

Ben narrowed his eyes on her, "Elena," he warned.

Her eyebrows shot up, "Oh! I don't have one here! No," she sighed, "They watch me nervously whenever I'm near any type of machine," she sadly glanced at him, "Johnny keeps asking what happened," Ben looked at her with sad eyes, "I don't like this, Ben."

"I know."

"He irritates me!" she growled and sharply looked at Ben as he laughed, "What?"

"I'm happy you said that, he is a lady killer."

"Yeah of our brain cells," she snorted, "I had to spend all of yesterday hearing about his exploits and such, because Reed was nowhere to be found!" her fingers were twitching the entire time, she didn't like to be still for too long, not since the accident those years ago.

"Go," Ben smiled making her look at him, "Go outside, you're restless."

She looked at him with doe eyes, "You know me so well," she kissed his forehead before walking to his door, "I'll be back in a few hours," Ben nodded and smiled after his niece.

She walked around the place, slightly lost before seeing someone she wanted to avoid, "Glow!" she quirked an eyebrow as Johnny came closer, "You like it? It's fitting since your last name," he justified with an arrogant chin lift.

"You mean it's ironic," she corrected before seeing what he was wearing. A crimson shirt that hugged his well built torso and green army pants but what mostly caught her attention was the snowboard on his side, "Snowboarding?"

"Yeah, want to join?" she met his gaze, "Or you can go skiing, pick your poison."

Then an idea popped into her head, "Ben did say go outside," she mused.

"We practically live on a ski resort, Glow, might as well take advantage of it. Plus I hear you're suppose to listen to your uncle," he smirked suddenly wanting her to join him.

Her grey eyes met his blue ones as she smiled, "Yes, I am suppose to listen to my uncle."

* * *

Elena breathed a slight puff of white smoke escaped her lips from the cold. A blue and white snowboard was strapped to her feet. She was ecstatic, she hadn't gone snowboarding in years. She noticed how light she felt in the fresh air. Her gaze went over the mountains in awe. After space she had an appreciation to nature. Johnny was watching her closely, he was happy that she was grinning like a cheshire cat, he smirked in pleasure to find she liked nature.

"Alright! I think we're close enough!" Johnny yelled making Elena slightly giggle with anticipation as she brought down her white rimmed ski goggles, "Remember to stay on the right! The left might give you trouble!" Johnny warned Elena who nodded and immediately jumped down.

Johnny was taken back when Elena had already gone ahead of him, snowboarding at a fast rate down the snow slope. He stared after her enchanted before a smile curved at his lips. Her moves to avoid him only made him want her more. He grinned and looked back at the pilot who was staring after her too, "That's my future wife," the pilot smirked and Johnny smiled, shaking his head before bringing his goggles over his and jumping down with his snowboard.

Elena gracefully jumped over some logs, her board gliding over the snow, she felt so free and liberated. A loud holler of excitement grabbed her attention, glancing to the side she saw Johnny catching up to her flashing her one of his pearly white smiles.

"You're losing!" she teased as they raced neck and neck.

Johnny laughed, "Alright no more kid stuff, watch this!" he suddenly sped over a rump before flipping in the air and landing smoothly. Elena would have been impressed if there wasn't a sudden flame that sparked out of nowhere and began burning his clothes.

"Johnny! YOU'RE ON FIRE!" she exclaimed, Johnny gave her a quick glance, surprised she actually complimented him.

"Thanks! You're pretty good too!" Elena felt like hitting her head before quickly avoiding a tree and moved closer to him.

"NO, YOU'RE ON FIRE!" she screamed once more which finally caught his attention. Immediately she pulled away from him where he raced past her patting furiously at the flames leaving a trail of smoke behind. Elena huffed before leaning to get more speed, her head was spinning slightly when she heard Johnny scream, immediately she chased after the trail of smoke before a scream was heard and everything went silent, "No," she breathed feeling panic rise through her body. She felt as if this was all her fault, the speed of her board quickly picked up when she finally saw where Johnny landed, "What the…." she stared in shock at the giant crater in the snow with a puddle of boiling water and Johnny in between. Elena saw the remains of his clothes fluttering in the air meaning that he was completely naked. Unable to help herself, she noticed his well toned muscular arms and lean abs. Johnny was panting, flabbergasted and gazing around the little jacuzzi he created before his eyes landed on Elena was was just watching him. The two shared a confused moment.

"Care to join me?" no matter how hard anyone could try to build walls, that slight shake in her head of disbelief let Johnny know that some part of Elena, deep down inside was charmed.

"We need to see Reed and Sue," Elena stated as she shrugged off her light blue ski jacket, "Take this and don't burn it," as soon as Johnny looked up at her extended arm he gasped.

"Elena," he stated looking at her forearm that was exposed to the cold, it was glittering in a million ways. It looked like tiny pieces of diamonds were imbedded into her skin.

"Oh my god!" she gasped pulling off her glove as Johnny pulled himself out of the jacuzzi and quickly tied her jacket around his lean waste to cover himself. Her entire diamond formed hand was shaking as she looked at it.

"Hey," he said taking her hand and as if it were magic, the diamonds vanished with a sparkling dust, "Let's get back," she meekly nodded, completely stunned. Johnny knew better than to pull any remarks at the moment, her grey eyes were wide and glued to the hand that Johnny now held as the helicopter hovered above them.

* * *

"To be seen…heard…look at me."

Reed looked up with wide eyes, "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Look at me!"

"Sue look at your hands!" the woman looked down at her invisible hands in shock before accidentally knocking over the wine bottle. Reed's hand shot out and _stretched_ to catch it.

Reed and Sue stared at each other dumbstruck, their bodies just showed some mutant development of some kind. Susan analyzed her hands that was no longer back to being opaque.

"Hey you guys! You are never going to believe what just happened—" Johnny came rushing in gripping on to a blue sweater wrapped around his torso, hiding his bare body. Both scientists gazes fell to his attire in inquire, "What?" he muttered then realized his state, "Oh, I can explain this," he assured with a hand out as a halt to them jumping to conclusions.

"Johnny!" a panicked sounding Elena screamed running into the room, "It happened again," she said holding out her now diamonized arm. She was shaking and looked like she was going to cry. Then she glanced up seeing Reed and Susan's shocked expressions, "Thank god!" she muttered pulling her black beanie off her head causing Susan's eyes to widen.

"Your hair," Susan whispered.

"Wow," Johnny breathed in amazement as he looked at Elena's short locks.

"What are you taking about?" she asked, then the diamonds in her arms vanished as she reached to pull a strand of her hair in front of her, "WHAT?!" she gasped seeing the extremely stark white hair that was in front of her, suddenly something dawned on her, "Where's Uncle Ben?" she asked noticing the lack of the Brooklyn man.

"He said he wasn't feeling well and went to his room," Reed answered.

"What, what happened?" Elena didn't wait for an answer as she grabbed Susan's arm and pulled her to the corridors that lead to the rooms.

"It has to be the cloud. It's fundamentally altered our DNA," Sue said to Reed when the two men caught up.

"Let's not jump to conclusions; we need a **_massive amount of evidence_** before making that leap," Reed told her as he glances over his shoulder.

"Guys, guys!" he stared at Johnny and Elena. Sue follows his gaze to see Johnny's fingertips are on fire. He then snaps his fingers and they go out, completely unharmed, "Now what is up with that?" Johnny asked just as he glanced up at Elena who was looking at her hand, flexing it with a confused expression on her face. Johnny snapped his fingers together again, "Okay, now picture that," he paused, "But everywhere!" he gestured to his half nude body enthusiastically.

"The cloud has fundamentally altered out DNA," Reed finally stated as they got to Ben's door.

"Ben?" Elena called out banging on the door.

"It's locked, Sue do you know the code?" Reed asked as Elena banged on the door again.

"I should," Sue said typing on the control panel, "Open up Ben, we need to talk."

Suddenly they heard something break and Elena panicked, "BEN!" she screamed.

Johnny immediately looked down the hall for a doctor, "Is there anyone who can open this?!" he called out but the area was empty,

Elena glanced down as she saw Reed slowly get on his knees. He moved his hand towards the crack under the door as Elena stepped back in front of Johnny. Suddenly his arm stretches, thinning to fit under the door, bending it upward to catch the lock and unlock the door. All three are looking at him astonished as his arm slowly snakes back from under the door and goes back into place.

"That's gross," Johnny stated making Elena nod.

Suddenly there was a tremendous smash from inside the room making Elena push past Reed and burst through the door, "Uncle Ben?" her grey eyes immediately take in the destroyed bed, the machines with astronomical results and the giant hole in the wall.

"Look! Look, look, look!" Johnny pointed making the four rush forward to see something large in the distance, running away, "What is that thing?" Johnny asked.

"I think that thing is Ben," Sue replied looking at said man's niece who has tears in her eyes just as Victor came in.

"What's going on?" Victor asked taking in the scene before him.

"Victor, are you feeling alright?" Sue asked rushing towards him as he nods.

"Just a little banged up. A couple scrapes. Why?" he asked.

"Ben did this," Reed stated,

Victor's eyes widened, "Ben did this?" Victor asked astonished.

"He's had some kind of…reaction to exposure from the cloud. And he's not the only one," Reed replied and immediately Victor took in Elena's now glittering white hair.

"We need to find him," Sue said making Victor redirect his attention to her, "Victor, I'm sorry I…" she started but Victor cut her off.

"Just **find** him," Victor said in a cold voice before leaving.

"Anyone have an idea on where's the big guy going?" Johnny asked as they all looked around the room.

Elena glanced down at the leather book Ben brought to space and then the picture of him and Debbie together, "He's going home," she whispered.

* * *

The four managed to get a hold of Debbie as they rode in a taxi. Elena, Johnny and Susan sat in the back while Reed rode shot gun. The taxi curved on to the Brooklyn Bridge, the sun had peaked over the horizon and vehicles began to file into the streets.

"Okay, so he was there last night. Debbie's going to meet us on the side of the bridge," Reed informed them.

Elena nodded as she sat between the Storm siblings, "I just want him to be okay," she growled making Johnny look at her. He had to admit, he liked a girl who was protective of her family. But the more time Johnny spent with her, he came to realize it wasn't only family but friends too.

"Ben!" Elena yelled as soon as she got out of the taxi, "Shit."

They all rushed towards what was causing the commotion, the police trying to herd the crowd away from the flames, "Back! We're evac-ing the bridge!" the cop said.

"What now? Reed? What do we do?" Sue asked.

"Ben's out there, we need to go get him," Elena stated.

Reed looked at Sue, " **We** can't get past them," Reed muttered, "But you can!"

"What?" then she understood what he meant. Suddenly she started to turn invisible, the only thing that was visible were her clothes.

"Sue. Your clothes. Lose them," Reed said.

"What?" she asked, "Oh." she said understanding. She started undressing, not thrilled with the idea, but apparently lost concentration for a moment and reappeared. Everyone stunned as they watched her. She immediately grabbed her blazer to cover herself.

"This is wrong in so many ways," Johnny said tormented by seeing his sister practically naked and looked away.

"You've been working out," Reed muttered.

"Shut up," Sue screeched, "You got anymore ideas, Reed? Maybe you should strip down next, see how it feels to have a hundred people staring," she started to get furious and turn invisible again.

"Sue!" Elena hissed forcing her to stop her rant.

"Oh. Well then," she said as she dropped her undies.

"I'm gonna need serious therapy," Johnny said making Elena roll her eyes before he scooped up her clothes and ran after the three.

Elena ran forward when she saw Reed and Sue, "I can't believe you made me do that!" Sue put her clothes on with a huff.

"We got through didn't we?" Reed retorted, coming back over to three of them as he checked to make sure no one was looking, "Just find Ben," with that Reed ran off.

Elena desperately looked around her uncle, before stepping on top of a taxi cab to see better, "BEN!" Elena screamed, but her breath fell short when she saw a bright orange figure that was about twice the size of Johnny. Elena realized that she, along with everyone else staring at him — it was their Ben.

Before anyone could blink Elena moved forward towards her uncle. Ben stood there, looking at his niece moved towards him with the happiest expression on her face. He saw his friends and his loved ones standing before him with concern in their eyes.

Johnny stared, guilt running through him for all the jokes he made about the man's appearance previous to the accident and even after.

"Mom? Mom, where are you?" Johnny's thought were broken by the sound of a vulnerable voice and when he looked around his eyes landed on an eleven year old girl. His eyes opened wide, a small gas tank exploded. He quickly jumped on to the top of a taxi and leaped off of it, wrapping his arms rightly around the girl, protecting her.

Elena stopped in her tracks when she heard the explosion, "Johnny!" she screamed as the flames engulfed him. Susan's eyes widen as she quickly held her hands up to protect herself. She waited for the pain but got none as a clear-blue shield came around the flames. But that didn't stop Elena from feeling the explosion and toss her back a bit as a car came hurtling above her.

"No!" Ben yelled in fear as he watched as his niece get thrown by the flames and ducking a car, but she gained her balance while standing back up as her skin sparkled like a thousand diamonds, only this time, it covered both hands and the side of her face.

As the explosion grew, an approaching fire-truck had no time to stop and escape. The firemen's eyes widened as they braced themselves, the truck getting hit and the end of it swinging off the bridge. A shout filled the air as a fireman held tightly to the ladder on top of the truck, his body weighing more than he remembered and the water looking more painful than it should have.

Elena's head immediately snapped towards the scream before glancing back to Susan who's nose was slightly bleeding and Johnny who was running to his sisters aid, "You okay?" he asked as she nodded she stared at her friend, Johnny looked up and his eyes widened.

"What the hell does she think she's doing?" Johnny practically screamed as Elena ran towards the truck, without even thinking Ben grabbed the sliding truck and pulled down. He winced as he felt his feet being dragged across the concrete and pulled harder. Suddenly the ladder attached to the top began to fall and a man struggled to save himself.

"Someone!"

Elena didn't even think when her foot connected with the railing. Johnny and Susan ran forward along with Reed as they watched Elena's body practically exploded when she dove down. She fell past the truck and immediately focused on returning, she felt her body float up. Her diamond skin was glowing as she felt herself heat up, her sparkling hands gripped the rear bumper, pushing the truck up with all her strength she helped Ben pull the truck back onto the bridge.

The truck jerked slightly and everyone's eyes widened as one of the firemen fell from the ladder. Before they could do anything the man was caught, he looked up and a sigh was released.

"Don't worry, I've got you," Reed said reassuringly even though his body was completely stretched. Elena pulled her diamond body up the truck before struggling down to the ground. Her world began to spin as she landed on her feet and she started to fall backwards, over the bridge. Before any of that could've possible happen, arms pulled her back and out of her diamond form before cradling her gently in the arms. She glanced up to see a familiar smirk, "That wasn't too bad," she gently smiled at his comment before leaning her head against his chest. Her energy was drained and she felt too weak.

"It was okay," she mumbled.

"You scared me," he whispered thinking back to the moments before when her eyes rolled back and her body swayed back over the water.

"Johnny Storm? _Scared_? Psh, please," she scoffed with a small smiled.

"Elena!" Susan yelled running towards the two, she took in the sight of the burnt back of Johnny's jacket and the burnt holes in Elena's top and jeans. Elena smiled to her friend as Johnny pulled her up to help her stand.

"Oh my god, Ben," Elena gasped struggling out of Johnny's grip and ran to where Ben was.

"Put your hands up!" the four looked over to see a group of policeman surrounding Ben. The rock man did nothing, not wanting to cause more trouble, but he stood there as Elena pushed through the police to her uncle, "Miss! Step this way!" Then the sound of people cheering and clapping filled the air. The firemen from the incident quickly approached the police, making the men lower their guns. Ben looked to his niece with a happy smile, maybe things wouldn't be so bad for him. Then in the corner of his eye someone else was staring.

As Ben's eyes roamed around the crowd of people cheering, he did a double-take, and stared as his fiancee stared back at him. He started to walk over towards her, but she backed away with a shake of her head. He stared at Debbie with pain in his eyes as her own began to fill with tears. She stared down at her engagement ring and shook her head once more. She pulled it off her finger and set the diamond on the ground. Without a glance back, she turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving a broken Ben behind.

Elena looked at her uncle with tears trickling down her face as Ben slowly reached down to pick up the ring, but his rather large fingers hindered him. He could feel the emotions welling up inside of him, and he fought back the tears threatening to fall. Suddenly, a smaller, delicate hand picked the ring up, handing it to the bigger one. Ben looked up to see a tear stricken Elena looking back at him as Reed stood next to her.

"I swear to you, I will do **everything** in my power, until there's not a breath left in me," the words hit Ben deep inside and by the look in Reed's eyes, he could tell his friend truly cared, "You're going to be **Ben** again," Reed reassured as Ben stared back at Reed. He slowly nodded his head as Reed gave his stone like shoulders a squeeze before looking to Elena.

He was so scared, he didn't want to lose her too. But before he could think she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, "I still love you, no matter what you are, Uncle Ben," she whispered before looking up at him with loving grey eyes. She glanced over to Johnny who was watching the ordeal with a new found respect to the two. As they five stood in the crowd, the crowd continued to cheer, accident and the pain over.

For now.

* * *

 ** _AN: So this is what my chapters length usually are, kinda. I hope you enjoy them and I'll update soon! Leave and review and NO FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	3. Walking Diamond Shop

After the "incident" on the bridge, the five were taken into a tent, set up by the police and firemen, to be examined and aided.

Elena was seated next to her uncle who glanced over at her. She softly smiled at him before leaning her head against his rocky shoulder, a gesture she's done for several years. They both stared at the ring that had been returned to him, "That was nana's right?" she softly asked peaking up at her uncle who nodded. He was shocked that she nuzzled closer to him, finding the position extremely comfortable. He smiled a bit, but it vanished as quickly as it came, sitting in silence for a moment, Ben looked at the ring and then at Elena making his heart lift a tiny bit. Sadly, the moment was broken by certain idiot.

"Where are your ears?" Ben and Elena glared up at Johnny as he gave Ben as serious look, his question wasn't a joke.

"Sir, there are some folks outside that want to talk to you," the five looked as they saw the chief of firemen walk into the tent. Reed glanced at the others, his eyes lingering on Susan. She quickly shook her head as he looked back at the firemen.

"We're not going public with this," Reed stated as the man gave him a very confused look, "We're scientists, not celebrities."

"It's too late for that, sir," the chief stated walking over to the television on the table and turned it on, the news please before them, "See that?" Susan and Reed both approached the screen with astounded looks on their faces, the description of them at the bottom of the screen. Elena and Johnny both stood to their feet as they walked to Reed and Susan and watched the news. The five of them read the description, the level of shock was rising, "That's what they're calling you," Elena felt her hands begin to shake, "The Fantastic Five."

"Cool!" Johnny quickly turned, wanting to face the media and without a second though, Elena grabbed his wrist, making him stop and look them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Susan asked him.

"I'm going to go talk to them!" he smiled.

"Wait!" Susan called out as she looked at her four friends, "We should think this through," she explained as Johnny struggled out of Elena's grip but failed.

Backing away, dragging Elena with him as he motioned towards the group, "Great! Brainstorm!" he headed out of the tent with Elena struggling to stop him.

"Johnny!" Susan yelled before sharing a look with Reed and Ben.

"Johnny, please!" Elena hissed when she felt his grip on her and purposely start bringing her along, now she was trying to get away from him.

"If you can't bet them, join them!" he smirked.

"Johnny!" he ignored his name as Susan, Reed and Ben quickly walked after him, "Get back here, right now!" Susan sternly muttered as Johnny glanced back at her and simply ignored her.

Finally the two stopped in front of the cameras and Johnny released Elena who had a feeling of fear sink into her. He raised his arms up to the crowd as they soaked him in and he smiled slightly, entertained by all the hype.

"Believe this?" Johnny asked as the three joined them, giving him a tired expression as Ben stood protectively behind Elena who was on Johnny's left.

The chief followed before walking in front of them looking at Reed mostly, "Which one of you is he leader?" he asked as Johnny puffed out his chest and placed his hands on his hip to make him look powerful.

"That'd be me," he said making the man and Elena chuckle.

"No, seriously," this brought out a slightly louder chuckle from Elena's lips as Johnny frowned. Susan glanced at Reed before nudging him forward slightly. He glanced back at her and saw the message clear as day. He hesitated, but looked at the chief before nodding his head.

"You're on," he said moving aside as he nodded his head towards the crowd.

Reed took a few steps closer and the see of reporters pulled closer. He took a deep breath and gained his composure, "Uh…during our recent mission to the Von Doom space station, we were exposed to an unidentified radioactive energy."

* * *

"Um, sir," a sigh resonated in the air as Victor looked up at his secretary and gave him a stern look.

"What is it?"

"Larry King just cancelled," his assistant explained, a perplexed expression crawled onto Victor's face, "Apparently, there's a bigger story," he held the remote to the plasma screen tv up and turned it on.

 _"_ _Here they come now! You had to see it to believe it!"_ Victor's eyes dilated as he saw the five people walk on screen, _"The band called The Fantastic Five,"_ Victor clenched his mouth shut as his secretary sent a weary look to the back of his head.

* * *

"What happened on the bridge?"

"How can you stretch?"

"Does the glass cover your entire body?"

"Were you really on fire?"

"Is it true you can fly?" this question caught Johnny's attention.

"Yeah I'm working on it, it's actually really difficult," Johnny spoke out but was cut off by Susan speaking through him.

"No, actually, we do not know much more than you do at this point. We'll be going directly to our lab to diagnose our symptoms," Sue gracefully spoke.

"Symptoms? Is this some kind of disease?" a figure in the crowd asked nervously.

"No, it's not a disease," Elena spoke making all eyes land on her.

"If having special powers is a disease, then, yeah we got it bad," Elena sharply glared at Johnny.

"Excuse me, that **_thing_** doesn't look so fantastic," this comment bristled at the comment directed to her uncle.

"Ben Grimm is a genuine American hero," Elena sharply spoke up in Ben's defence as Johnny placed an arm on Ben's hard shoulders, squishing Elena between them.

"What she means is, every team needs a mascot," Johnny stated cockily making Elena sharply hit him in the ribs making him wince, "A new day is dawning, the day of the Fantastic Five!" Johnny praised before a bright light flashed upon them and Elena wiggled out of Johnny's grip.

"Now this is our disease. Our lives on the line…" Elena glanced away, "No more questions," she heard Reed say before turning away. Elena felt her hand hardening and she quickly turned away when she felt the fear sink in. Johnny glanced back and saw her shaking form as the others walked to where the police had rides for them.

"Hey," he said placed a hand on her shoulder, making the diamonds vanish.

"Just don't," she whispered before getting in the police car. Susan and Reed rode together, leaving Elena with Johnny since Ben was going to be riding in an armored police truck. Johnny reluctantly got in and the cars made their way to the Baxter Building.

Johnny glanced over to Elena who was nervously picking at her nails, "You worry too much."

Elena gave him a glare before moving her hands to her jeans, "The last time I was in the back of a police car, I didn't want to remember," she pitifully laughed, "But here I am. When I should be with Ben," she gave him another glare as they pulled up to the Baxter Building. She sharply hit him in the ribs before having the door open, "You're never going to grow up or get it, are you?" she snapped before climbing out of the car.

Johnny hesitated, taken back by the words she said but easily gained his composure back as he drowned in the attention from the media. Elena gave the cameras a smile and a wave before quickly walking over to where Ben got out of the truck.

Johnny rolled his eyes as he watched Elena walk with her uncle before wrapping his arms around the two.

"Come on, big guy. Give them a smile. They **want** to like you," he motioned to the kids cheering for the large man before walking ahead and dragging Elena with him. Ben hesitated as the kids stared up at him.

"Don't do drugs," he stated before walking inside the building as the crowd cheered louder than before.

The five walked through the lobby as the senior mail man approached them by the elevator doors, "I got the usual for you," the mail man stated handing Reed a pile of envelops, "Good to have you back, sir," the man smiled before turning to Elena, "I got a few letters for you two Miss Brighton," she took the few letters before glancing up at Ben.

"Could be it," she wishfully stated, not wanting to look through the mail yet, but glanced at Reed's handful and saw the stamps of FINAL NOTICE in red.

"We had a tough year," Reed tried to claim feeling vulnerable under Susan's blue eyes.

"Yeah, nine straight," Ben chimed gruffly and walked into the elevator. The metal doors shut and Elena leaned into the cool metal walls, feeling a peace after the lack of eyes on her.

The elevator began to groan, creek before jutting slightly which grabbed everyone's attention, "Either we're moving really fast or not at all," Johnny commented removing his sunglasses, then a sharp alarm rang making Elena jump in fright as a weight warning sign came up beside the floor indicator. All eyes fell on Ben who sighed as the doors opened once again, rejecting him out of the elevator.

"I'll take the stairs," Ben said in a bruised voice.

"I'll come with," Elena offered but he shook his head.

"Stay here Lenie," he ordered just as the metal doors shut, making her slump against the wall in defeat.

"How come Ben can't turn it on and off like we can?" Johnny asked curiously.

"That's what we're here to find out," Reed answered.

"If it happened to him…" Elena's voice faded.

"What? You mean, like, we won't be able to turn it off either?" Johnny inquired too worked up by the idea making Susan and Reed nod in response, "That would save time, ha!" Elena's eyes narrowed.

"You don't really want to walk around on fire for the rest of your life, do you?" Susan snapped darkly.

"Is that a trick question?" he smirked seeing Elena look at him after using her line.

"Grow up!" Elena barked making a bit of diamond over her sternum, "God, for once in your life, can you actually take **something** serious?"

Reed and Susan were taken back by Elena's outburst but suddenly realized why, like Johnny, her entire body was effected by her abilities, and being a walking diamond didn't sound enjoyable.

"Come on. Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?" Elena banged her head on the wall as the elevator door finally opened. The four walked out as Reed led the way.

"We should stay here until we find the extent of our changes and figured out how to reverse them," Reed explained as he walked deep into his home. The other three followed, having no objections to his plan. Johnny's eyes roamed around the large apartment and they widened slightly.

"Whoa…" he walked into the middle of the room to find almost an entire lab sitting in front of him.

"I'm going to warn you, it's going to be a little crowded in some areas," Reed shouted as he walked over to the light switch. Elena was use to this and simply leaning against one of the walls near Susan as she stared at Reed's personal lab, "What do you think?" Reed asked walking over to the two Storms.

"I don't know, Reed. I think you _might_ be bringing your work home with you," Johnny said sarcastically as Reed chuckled before giving Johnny's back a pat.

"I still have my room and area right?" Elena questioned making Susan and Johnny look at her slightly shocked.

"You stay here?" Susan questioned, the bright blonde nodded and shrugged.

"Ben stays here a lot and I didn't want to cramp on his and that she-witches style so Reed let me stay here, plus I have my babies here," she smirked.

"Yeah, no touching those computers, I'm going to need them," Reed stated making Elena whine.

"Ugh, fine," she moved down the hall with Reed and the others following.

"Let me show you where you'll be staying."

Johnny followed after the man as he whispered in his sisters ear, so not to let Reed hear, "Busy guy," Susan sighed as she shook her head with an exasperated smile on her face.

"Sue, you'll be here," Reed instructed, "Johnny yours is next to Elena."

"Oh yeah," he smirked looking at Elena who was surprisingly smirking.

"Yeah," she quipped and rolled her eyes, "And across the way from Ben," she laughed before walking down the hall to her room before pushing the door open.

"Elena! Do not touch those computers!" Reed yelled.

"Awe, come on!" they all heard her groan. Johnny walked over to her room and his eyes widened at the sight of her large room. A queen sized bed was pushed into the window nook, giving the room as much floor space as possible. There was a built in closet and a pull down desk that hung from the ceiling. He saw the different type of floor and wall mirror, "Why all the floor space?"

She glanced back at Johnny, surprised to see him in her room and she shrugged before unplugging all her computers, "I like to have the floor open," he saw the several computers and lowly whistled, "Can I help you?" Johnny smirked making her roll her eyes, "Look, I really want to get out of these burnt clothes and shower, can you leave me be for a moment?"

Johnny smiled and took a few steps closer, suddenly Elena was 15 again and she was terrified, "Come here," he purred and Elena's eyes widened as his figured merged with a different mans.

"NO!" she screamed pushing past him and running down the hall and running into Ben before glancing down and seeing Victor walk off into the elevator.

"Lenie?" Ben and Reed asked seeing her frightened state. She wildly glanced around and sighed, "Wow, there," Reed hushed while stabilizing here, "Did you have a flash back?" she meekly nodded before hearing Susan and Johnny come running in.

"What's wrong?" Susan asked but her eyes softened when she saw Elena's shaking form, "The showers free," Elena nodded before walking down the hall to the bathroom and softly shutting the door.

"What was that?" Johnny asked completely confused of what happened.

Reed sighed and looked at the three, "Get settled and changed, we're starting in a few," Reed moved down to his own bedroom and got changed.

* * *

Elena came out, towel wrapped firmly around her tan body, white hair dripping onto her slim shoulders. Steam was pooling around her as she walked down the hall. She was humming a song that she heard on the radio.

"Lenie," Ben said coming out of his room after hearing his niece come out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, Uncle Ben?" she asked with a smile.

"Reed wants you in your gear," she nodded and reached for her door, "You okay?"

Elena nodded and glanced over at him, "The stress got to me," she shrugged, "I'll be fine," Ben's eyes flitted over to her shoulder, the scar still there, "Be careful, okay?" she brightly smiled before going to her room and closing the door. She got into a pair of navy blue spandex shorts, her black sports bra and pulled on a zip up sweatshirt that was once Ben's but she stole it years ago. She slipped on a pair of Nike galaxy shoes and glanced down at the diamond necklace hanging on her jewelry string on the window.

"Come what may," she whispered, "You'll find a way," she clasped the necklace around her neck and towel dried her hair leaving them in slightly damp waves. Elena glanced at her body in the mirror and sighed, "If only," she said glancing at the ballet slippers hanging on them then back at the stack of letters on her bed.

"Elena!" Susan yelled knocking on the door, "I'm coming in," she walked in and saw Elena standing there, looking at the pink slippers, "Reed's ready for you," Elena nodded before zipping her jacket to cover her abdomen. The two walked down the hall silently, the slightly shorter girl's eyes focused on the floor, "Johnny didn't know," Elena's eyes widened as she looked at Sue, "Still doesn't know," her lips twitched into a smile. When they got to Reed's lab they were taken back at the sight of a large box in the middle of the room with Johnny next to it.

"What's going on?" Elena asked gaining the two attention. Johnny's eyes slightly widened at the clothes Elena was wearing.

"We're going to test Johnny's abilities first," Reed said as he put Johnny in the box. The three walked up to the booth. Elena took a seat in the booth and glanced at the computers.

"You just couldn't wait," she hissed seeing her computers in the booth.

"Now, what exactly am I supposed to do here?" Johnny looked around as he stood in the metal generator.

"Light yourself on fire," Elena muttered not knowing he could hear her.

"Alright then!" Reed and Susan looked at Elena with wide eyes. Then watched as Johnny concentrated on making his body burst into flames. He stared at his hand as it slowly became engulfed by fire. He closed his eyes and snapped them open as the rest of his body turning into fire, the sensation thrilling him.

"He's heating up from his core," Reed muttered looking at Johnny's charts.

"And his vitals are completely normal," Susan mumbled, Elena felt herself stand, looking at the heating box with wide eyes.

"We shouldn't be able to feel his heat from in here," Reed stated as beads of sweat rolled down his face, "Well not this much."

"I don't feel anything," Elena whispered still watching the box, then Reed looked over at her and gasped. The ends of Elena's hair was coming out in white/blue flames.

"Oh my god!" Susan gasped pulling out a fire extinguisher and hitting Elena with white foam, knocking her over, "He's over 2000 Kelvin already!"

"It's hotter than I anticipated…." Reed said thoughtfully, speaking into the comm. device, "Okay, Johnny back it down."

"I can go hotter!" the blonde replied.

"Johnny just back it down!" Sue growled had saw Elena huff as she stood up from the ground. The blonde didn't listen, heating up even more so within the titanium chamber. Flames shot off the side, lighting up the room in a dangerous glow that stung the eyes of Reed and Susan as Elena watching in fascination. Reed groaned beside the two woman as Sue shielded her face with her hands when she noticed Elena started to exert a glow from her skin.

"Johnny!" Reed reached over and slammed his fist into the emergence extinguish button on the panel just as Sue hit Elena again with the foam. A yelp in alarm called out from the chamber as Johnny's fame immediately went out as well as Elena's glow.

"Ow!" Elena snapped standing up and pushing open the door in frustration as the two scientists breathed a sigh of relief while Johnny laughed like a maniac in what was left of the chamber.

"Buzz-kill!" the blonde laughed, calling out to three from one of the many gaping holes in the side of the smoldering chamber. He was covered head to toe in cold white foam and presumably naked beneath that fluffy covering, "You guys are crappin' my style!"

"Johnny, you were at 4000 Kelvin," Sue stressed to the grinning blonde as Elena shot her a glare, "Any hotter, and you're approaching supernova."

"Sweet!"

"No, not sweet," Sue shook her head.

"That's the temperature of the sun," Reed added, "Not only could you kill yourself but you could set fire to Earth's atmosphere and destroy all human life as we know it."

Johnny stared at her a moment, the information sinking in. He looked ridiculous covered in the foam, "Got it. Supernova: Bad," he gave a double thumbs up.

"And you!" Reed hissed turning to Elena who was shaking the white powder from her hair.

"What about me?!" she yelled still angry Sue sprayed her.

"What was that?!"

"What was what?!" Elena groaned walking down the stairs to get Johnny a towel. She grabbed two and tossed them at him.

"Hair on fire and rapidly, blinding glowing skin. Ring any bells?" Sue asked.

"That happened?" Elena breathed, both scientists nodded.

"What happened?" Johnny asked as he stepped out of the melted box.

"A part of Elena's powers unlocked while testing yours," Reed sighed, "But I don't think we'll be able to test it since the box is damaged."

Elena rolled her eyes, "Giving me 10 minutes and you'll have enough titanium to build the Titanic," Reed looked at her making her sigh, "You can watch if your so paranoid."

* * *

Immediately Sue and Reed went to look at Ben. Elena in Reed's sight with her laptop.

"In order to identify the source of the mutation, we're going to have to isolate your DNA so we can take a look at your genomes," Ben stared at Reed with a blank expression as he looked over at Susan for answers. She chuckled softly as she patted his shoulder.

"We're going to give you a physical in order to see what got zapped," she clarified.

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?" Reed smiled at his friend as he walked over to the computer screen and began to run his scan. Susan walked up beside and both of them stared in shock.

"His internal organs are completely are completely solid," the two looked up at Ben as he gave them a nervous look.

"How bad is it? You know, I used to smoke!" this caused Elena to crack up laughing. She nearly fell off the table as she gripped her computer.

"Titanium is on the way," Elena laughed standing up. She gave the three a smile before handing Reed the computer, "I was a good girl," she smirked sauntering away to get something to drink.

"Oh my god."

* * *

"It's not invisibility, per say. You can bend light around other objects, even people, that is, if you could control your emotional state better," Reed began to write down his results, his last comment striking Susan slightly.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm saying, if you had a little more self-control you could locate the trigger," Reed explained, not going around anything or trying to make Susan feel better. He span around in his chair as he looked at the computer screen in front of him, "Can you remember your exact emotions on the bridge?"

"Hm. Anger…rage, frustration," she snapped her head right to reed, hoping he'd get the clue. Of course, he didn't.

"Ok, is there anyway to duplicate that feeling? Some memory or…" Reed waited for Susan's answer as she narrowed her eyes at him and smiled a bit.

"I'm sure I can think of something."

* * *

"You want me to do what?" Elena asked as she stood in the middle of the lab.

"I need to see how the diamonds effect the rest of your body," Reed stated making Elena sighed. She pulled off her sweat shirt just as Johnny and Ben came in.

"Oh! Glow's turn!" Johnny smirked sitting on the table next to Susan.

"Reed, it just happens," Elena tried to explain.

"Okay, like when?"

"Scared, nervous. I don't know!" she growled, "It happened when I first gave Johnny my ski jacket," she explained.

"And your arm was exposed to the cold," Reed stated making things click, "It's protecting you!" Everyone looked at him confused, "The diamonds protect you from harm," without thinking Johnny threw the apple he was eating at Elena's head. Before a person could blink, Elena's hair and face was covered in diamonds. With a furrow of her diamonized brows and the rest of her body was covered, except her clothes. Then Johnny noticed a trail of blue diamonds across Elena's stomach.

"What's up with the blue areas?" Johnny asked admiring the sight of her body.

"It looks like scar tissue is a different color," Reed stated.

"Why was she glowing earlier?" Johnny asked. Elena's grey diamond eyes snapped towards him, narrowing dangerously. Elena took a step forward but stopped when she heard the sound of soft bells that her skin made. Reed circled around her as she shifted where she stood. Ben watched his niece with soft eyes, she never liked the spotlight, she loved to be the person in the background, but more importantly she wanted to do what she loved and it was taken from her.

"I wonder if it could expand," Reed muttered.

"Like to another person?" Elena asked.

"I volunteer!" Johnny yelled but Sue shook her head as Reed's eyes widened as he looked at his screen.

"It's only your skin!" Reed gasped, "It's like your skin gained an armor to protect your body."

"My guess, him," Ben said pointing to Johnny.

"Hey!"

* * *

"Can you feel anything?" Susan flicked Ben's knee with a reflex hammer as best she could, waiting for some sort of reaction from him. He shook his head and shrugged.

"Not a thing," he said as Reed walked towards Ben, a hammer in his hands. He took a deep breath and pulled the hammer back.

"Okay!" he slammed the hammer into the stony man's knee and their eyes widened as Ben's leg kicked out, hitting a chair, and sending it across the room. The two stared back at Ben as he smiled weakly.

"Oops."

* * *

"Johnny stop!" Susan and Reed heard Elena yell and then Johnny's laugh. She came running into the room, her hand in diamond form, "Johnny!" she yelled as he reached for her with his flamed hand.

"Johnny," Susan groaned, then gasped when he grabbed her diamond arm and a bright light exploded in front of them.

"What the hell!" Elena screamed at Johnny as the light dimmed slightly. The three's eyes widened when they saw her, "Like seriously! What the hell!" she didn't notice her body. It was a bright white-blue flame, her diamond skin was glittering underneath. Her hair was blowing in bright wisps, "I can't believe you!" with each fuming moment the room swirled in hot wind.

"Elena!" Susan and Reed yelled.

"Not now!" Elena screamed before looking at Johnny, "I am sick and tired of your antics! Grow up!" Johnny slowly backed away, fear setting into him as he saw how he genuinely hurt her, "Okay what?"

"Your skin in on fire," Reed bluntly stated making her look at her hands with wide eyes.

"Oh my god," Elena breathed as Susan raised the fire extinguisher and hit both of the two. Before Johnny could see Elena's form she ran to her room for clothes.

* * *

 ** _AN: OH! So those are their powers! Cool huh? Okay, leave a review and no flames!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	4. Wildly Swung

Five days past found Reed making a number of important discoveries concerning their powers. One of them involved when both Johnny and Elena were flamed up.

"So wait, go over that again?" Elena stated as she sat on the couch with Johnny, they were watching Mission Impossible.

"Since you have the hottest type of flame known to science and Johnny can reach the temperature of the sun," Reed started but the two just stared at him, "You two could create the same energy and heat amount of a solar flare or a star dying."

"That's really bad, right?" Johnny asked making Elena hit him for his stupidity.

"Extremely, so if you two do get into a **heated** fight, control the flames," Reed scorned before walking out.

"Finally alone," Johnny smirked making Elena roll her eyes and get up. Johnny watched her walk. Ben was watching the two and growled. Elena glanced over and sighed, then looked at the calendar.

"I'm going to the gym," Elena stated to Ben.

Ben nodded knowing that she missed a lot during the testing, "Don't over do it, Lenie," she smiled and kissed his rock cheek.

Johnny's head immediately snapped up, "Wait, she can leave?!" he growled, "Why?!"

Elena looked at him perplexed, "Johnny, I'm going only downstairs," she shook her head and made her way to her bag, picking it up and stepping in the elevator.

"I'm coming!" Johnny yelled and before jumping into the elevator with her before Ben could say anything. Elena glanced over at him and sighed.

"Couldn't give me a moment alone?" she asked.

Johnny smiled, not smirk but smiled at her, "Come on, Glow," he stated looking at her. She was wearing cropped leggings and a loose crop top, "What you doing in the gym anyways?" she glanced at him and sighed.

"Practicing," she muttered before hearing the elevator ding. They walked into the gym and Johnny was surprised to see what it looked like. It was open, extremely open with bounce hard wood floors and a mirrored wall. It was a dance studio. Elena dropped her bag by the stereo and kicked off her shoes for a pair of Nike Studio Wrap shoes. She placed a CD into the stereo and looked at Johnny, "Are you gonna do something?"

Johnny shrugged and sat down, "I'll just watch and see what you can do," Elena wearily watched him. She was nervous for him to watch her, "What?"

She rubbed the side of her neck, making Johnny even more attracted to her, "No one's seen me dance in a while," he realized why she was hesitant.

"Forget I'm here," he stated and she nodded. She pushed play and closed her eyes. Johnny watched her as the music from Swan Lake flooded his ears. Her arms slowly dipped and then she moved too. Johnny watched in utter silence as she danced. Twirling and jumping, he nervously moved forward when she jumped then rolled down to the ground before moving her arms and laying them on her legs as the song ended. Her legs had shifted to diamond and she groaned when she sat up. She felt a tear roll down her face and Elena put her face in her hands.

"Glow?" Johnny asked standing up, she looked up at him with red puffy eyes and tears running down her cheeks, "Hey," he whispered sitting in front of her, "Hey what's wrong?"

She shook her head with a slight hiccup, "There's a reason why I never talk about my parents," she scrunched her nose, "I can't get through this fucking song without thinking about them."

Johnny furrowed his brows at her, "What?"

Elena swallowed before meeting his eyes, pushing her white blonde hair from her eyes, "I just got home from school," she smiled slightly, "I literally just graduated from MIT. I was an expert in computer engineering with the passion for dancing," Elena tucked her knees under her chin and looked up at Johnny, "My parents were in a rough patch, always fighting. It never got physical or threatening," she sighed, "Until one night."

Johnny felt his breath leave him as he watched her crumble before him, "Elena you don't have," she shook her head.

"They were screaming, yelling. Mom was angry with his drinking," she rolled her eyes, "Dad was done with her nagging. I came in and watched silently. I just returned from dance practice. Sue and I were planning on meeting up for dinner. She and I had become close, we were introduced through Ben. I was in the kitchen getting something to eat when they came storming through. I didn't think much of it, it was mostly normal. Dad was screaming the most, so I texted Sue that I needed her to come get me," Elena paused, "Then Dad pulled a knife," she wiped her nose as Johnny felt dread sink into his stomach, "Mom pulled a gun," she started shaking, diamonds covered her chest.

"Elena," he pulled her closer to him making the diamonds vanish, "You can stop."

"No you need to know, the others do," Elena whispered before taking a deep breath, "Dad was getting angrier and angrier. I was about this far from him when he wildly swung," she lift her shirt off and exposed her stomach. Johnny's blue eyes widened when he saw the white glittering line moving from her left hip bone, across her abdomen and stopping under her right breast, "He blamed Mom for it, he held me as he yelled at her. She was furious," Elena pointed to the bullet wound on her right shoulder, "Shot him through me. Hit his heart," she pulled her shirt back down, "Sue was coming up the stairs when my mom put the gun in her mouth. I was barely conscious, but I saw it happen. Sue came rushing in and called Ben then came the ambulance."

"That's why you freaked," Johnny whispered in understanding, "You were cornered when you were attacked and it triggers the memory."

Elena chuckled, "You're not as dumb as you seem," he gave a playful punch, "Anyways, I was out of dance commission for a year, due to my injuries and therapy. One year for a dancer causes this," she gestured to her shapely body, "No company wanted to hire me so I got cocky, started a computer business. The dare came and well, Ben got pissed. Made me work for Reed and here we are," she shrugged before standing up. Johnny watched her as she got her things together, not bothering to get out of her dance shoes.

"Glow," she looked up at Johnny, "How old were you?"

"I was fifteen when I gained this," Elena said, she weakly smiled at Johnny, "Come on, the others must think we've killed each other."

Johnny chuckled and stood up, "Yeah why is that?" the two walked over to the elevator.

"Because you're an asshole and I'm the innocent niece who's gotten the government pissed a few times," Elena smirked.

"I resent that."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "It's true. You want to fuck anything with a pulse," she leaned back against the wall of the elevator, "There's a reason why Ben doesn't like you."

"And why's that?"

Her grey eyes narrowed on him as the elevator stopped, "Because he and I have been broken hearted enough times without the likes of you."

Johnny felt shocked as Elena strutted forward into the lab and following Reed up to the booth. She was speaking to him about gaining her computer back when Sue entered the room, tossing the suits from the station at Johnny, "Get dressed," she stated going over to where Elena and Reed disappeared to.

* * *

"Our uniforms were exposed to the storm like us, so they can transform, like us," five figures stood in the sitting room, their old space uniforms back on their bodies. Elena looked over her suit and then at her hands, wondering in it were true. Her hands diamonized and the suit followed with becoming the sparkling gem.

"Well no shit," she whispered.

"Language," Johnny teased making her growl at him.

"You guys look like an eighties rock band," Ben laughed as Elena playfully scowled at him.

"You know, Ben, this material stretches. I'm sure we can figure a way to make it fit," Sue suggested. The bulkier man of the two laughed as he shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't be caught **dead** wearin' that," he insisted as he took a chug of water. Elena made a face.

"I love these costumes," the four looked over at an enthusiastic Johnny as he grinned at himself, "They're missing something though, like some spice."

Elena shook her head, "They're not costumes."

"You can't just use your powers in public, Johnny," Susan reminded him as he gave them a tired look. He shook his head and turned to face the mirror.

"You guys are worse than NASA."

"NASA isn't that bad, it's the Pentagon thats bad," Elena muttered but Johnny heard it.

"You could burn somebody," Susan pointed out as Johnny shrugged. Elena rolled her eyes and stood up, her hunger taking over. Johnny smirked as he watched her walk towards the kitchen. The view more than perfect for him. Feeling his gaze Elena turned around and rolled her eyes at him.

"Maybe you're missing a utility belt!"

* * *

Elena fell asleep on the couch and was woken abruptly up by the sound of music, "What?" she muttered peeling herself off the couch and walked towards her room. She listened to the music and realized they came from Johnny's room. She growled when a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She stormed to his room and kicked his door down.

"Johnny!" she screamed as she came into his room, flames licking her hands. Said man turned around wearing nothing but a towel on his waist. Elena's eyes slightly widened as she quickly stepped back, against the wall. Johnny smirked and turned his music down.

"You usually burst through doors when someone's fresh out of the shower?" Elena growled as Johnny as he gave a playful smirk.

"Why do you have music blaring?"

"Why are you in here while I'm changing?" Elena forced herself to not blush before pushing herself out of his room.

"I was asleep!"

Johnny smirked, "I know."

"You're impossible!" she screamed as she walked back into her room.

"You love me and you know it!"

"Don't be so full of yourself!" Elena growled as Johnny quickly pulled on his clothes.

"Did I really wake you up?" he asked as Elena rolled her eyes as she unzipped her space suit. Johnny walked carelessly into Elena's room as she pulled out her clothes to wear before jumping up into the loft where she once held her computers.

"Not fair!" Johnny chuckled when he heard her sigh but caught a glimpse of Elena's legs, "Personally, I think is place is getting smaller and smaller," he said as Elena quickly changed into her skinny jeans, a flowing blue tank top showing the sides of her lace bra and a pair of ankle boots. Jumping out of the loft she landed in front of Johnny.

"I get what you mean. I don't like being cooped up all the time," she said as Johnny followed her out, watching how her jeans hugged her butt perfectly.

"Thank you! I'm glad someone here finally understands!" Johnny exclaimed rolling her eyes.

"This doesn't mean I don't think they're right."

"Of course," Elena glanced back and smiled at him, Johnny gave a smirk. The two walked into the kitchen with Reed, Susan and Ben already sitting at the table. Johnny strutted past Elena as he walked to the counter, stealing the bowl of orange juice Ben had freshly squeezed, "Alright people, lets make this quick. I've got a lot of places to be today," this made Elena roll her eyes as she kissed the top of Ben's head before she took a seat next to Ben and across Susan, "Oh wait, I don't go anywhere!" Johnny fake laughed making Reed sigh.

"Johnny, it's imperative that we stay inside."

"I know I know. It's just, when you said that last time, my head heard a week," Elena tried to ignore Johnny's complaining and put her head in her hands, exhausted.

"What worries me, is that our powers are evolving."

"I know, I know! I'm so close to flying guys, I can feel it!" Elena scoffed making Johnny look at her exhausted form, rolling up his used napkin and lightly tossing it on the counter.

"You can't fly," Susan chuckled as Johnny gave her a smirk.

"Yet."

"I can fly," Elena mumbled into her hands.

"Johnny can you put that out?" Johnny turned around and his eyes widened slightly as he finally noticed his napkin lit in flames. He quickly began to slap them away, only making it worse.

"What's going on, Reed?" How are you gonna cure us" Ben asked as Reed grabbed his chart. The four listened intently as Reed began to explain his master plan, the basic idea of his strategy simple, yet very complicated.

"I'm going to build a machine to re-create the storm," Reed explained, holding up a chart to show them, "The cosmic rays will travel from this generator to this chamber."

"What? No pop-ups?" Johnny asked sarcastically.

"If I can reverse the wave signal…" Reed carried on as though he wasn't interrupted.

"It'll return us back to normal," Ben finished for him. The stony man loved the idea.

"What are the risks?" Sue asked as she flipped through Reeds plans for his machine.

"Even a small miscalculation could increase our symptoms exponentially," Reed paused, "Or perhaps even kill us."

Everyone looked at him, startled by his words, "Now dying.." Johnny's brows were arched high on his forehead as he looked from Elena to Reed and back again, "That's bad, right?" When Reed only sighed the blonde continued, "I say we just let sleeping dogs lie, guys," he stepped forward, spun a chair at the table around and sat down on it backwards.

"Yeah, I don't fancy being killed or being a walking diamond shop for the world," Elena muttered.

"So how long until this contraption's up and runnin'?" Ben demanded as if Johnny and his niece hadn't spoke.

"I don't know. It's hard to say…"

"How long, Reed?"

"I don't know—"

"You don't know?!" Ben stood from the table, outraged making Elena stand up too, her skin immediately changing to diamond form.

"You don't want this to get worse," Reed tried to explain.

"Worse than that?" Johnny asked with a laugh. Ben took a step forward to the blonde, but the glittering, diamond form Elena pushed him back, surprising them all.

"Ben!" Elena pleaded but her uncle stepped forward to Johnny again forcing her to shove him back with more strength than all of them thought was possible, "Please."

"Yeah, listen to her, Bennie," Johnny cooed placing a hand on Elena's shoulder making her diamond form vanish with a puff of sparkling dust.

"Guys! We're going to be stuck here for a while, so why do we _try_ to get along, ok?" the two men heard Sue's words, but eyed each other warily with Elena in the middle of them.

* * *

Elena sat at the table with a bowl of fruit, "Elena?" Susan asked as she came padding through to the kitchen, "It's two in the morning," Elena glanced up at she plopped at berry into her mouth.

"I can't sleep," the white haired girl shrugged, then a thought came to her mind as she offered Susan some of her fruit, "Hey Sue?" the blonde looked at her, "I think I figured something out about my powers."

"Oh yeah? What?" Sue asked, suddenly interested in what she had to say.

"Well, I was wearing my diamond necklace when we got hit, so it makes sense on why I can do my diamond form. But," she paused, "Before the cloud, when Ben was coming back. Johnny stopped me because the cloud was too close. And we were holding hands, I guess, when we got hit."

Susan's eyes widened, "That's why your diamond form vanishes when he touches you," she smirked, "He told me you talked about your parents," Elena nodded, "I told him that it means you trust him, and you don't trust easily."

"Yeah well, he's living here, I need to trust him," Elena grumbled poking at her fruit.

"What're you thinking about?" she asked making the 23 year old look up at Susan.

"What?"

"You keep playing with your nails, you're thinking about something," Elena chuckled.

"I'm curious on how this 'get along with everyone,' is going to work. Those two can't stand each other," Susan smiled and stole a berry.

"Well, you got in between them easily," Susan countered.

"I don't want them killing each other," Elena smiled but Susan saw and heard something else in her words.

* * *

Johnny smirked to himself as he slowly peeked over the couch, Ben sleeping like a rock with a bottle of shaving cream in his hand. He quietly laughed to himself as he glanced around with a wide smile. He grabbed a feather duster and silently crept back to the couch.

* * *

Reed sighed as he heard Elena singing in the shower before turning to the other bathroom. As he opened the door, his eyes widened, a gasp filling the air.

"Don't you knock?!" Susan exclaimed as she held a towel up and rapidly turned invisible. Reed, too embarrassed to actually speak a formulated sentence, looked away mumbling sorry to the invisible woman before closing the door.

* * *

"Elena! Do you have a power cord I can borrow?" Johnny opened her door after knocking and stopped, eyes wide.

Elena was in a backbend in the middle of the room wearing only a sports bra and spandex shorts. She had her eyes closed as she slowly tried to form her diamond skin. He just stood there and watched Elena. He smirked, allowing himself the view of Elena as he heard music blaring from her iPod. Elena's brows furrowed when she realized she wasn't changing forms and opened her eyes.

"Johnny?" she asked seeing him leaning against her door frame and pushing herself up while pulling out her earphones.

"Now why did you ruin this moment?"

She gave a growl before pushing him out of her room.

* * *

Johnny smiled as he held the handle of the duster to Ben's face. After a few attempts with the feathers he decided to flip it around and use the wood against the stone man's skin. He gently caressed Ben's cheek with he handle of the duster, he waiting as the handle ran over Ben's face and finally, the shaving cream had made contact with his target. Johnny threw his hands into the air, more than pleased with his victory before sprinting out of the room.

Reed, Susan and Elena were doing some testing when Johnny came running in.

"Oh good! You're here!" Reed said seeing his arrival, but Elena watched him with a critical eye.

"What did you do?" she demanded seeing the glint in his eye.

"Hmm?"

"Johnny what did —"

"JOHNNY!" Ben's roar echoed through the floor, startling the four, making Elena change into diamond form while they all turned to the blonde.

* * *

"Hey Elena, how's it coming?" Reed stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw the white haired 23 year old curled up next to a sleeping Johnny, exhausted from the tests that day. They weren't touching but one could see the comfort the two had next to each other.

Reed walked over to wake her up when he noticed something when he reached towards her. Her shoulder changed to diamond form the moment his hand came near, but when it back around it vanished. He decided to wake Johnny up instead and when he did the blonde opened his mouth to snap at him but saw Elena sleeping and stopped. He heard her nightmares through the walls and decided she needed the sleep.

* * *

Elena woke herself up around 4 am and threw herself into a shower. It was about an hour long shower, but she changed and styled her hair, put on some make up. Made herself look pretty for no reason. She just felt like it. She was wearing skinny jeans that showed her powerful legs, a scoop neck loose tank top in a pretty blue shade, and some heeled brown ankle boots. She put her necklace on and fix her side parted hair.

She got herself down to the kitchen and started breakfast. She was tired. Way too tired. Nightmares plaque her constantly at night and she barely was able to sleep during the day. Sitting at the table she looked at the apple before her and focused. Reed explained to her that her powers were very difficult to understand, her diamond nature made everything possible.

 _Elena and Sue sat next to each other with wires going everywhere on their body, each wearing shorts and a sports bra. Elena ran her hair through her white hair and sighed, she dyed it brown last night and this morning it was white again. Her grey eyes flitted over to Reed who was looking at a monitor before placing one more wire on her and Sue's heads._

 _"_ _I'm going to use this to examine your brain wave lengths when you're in diamond form," Reed explained, "This should help figure out what else your abilities can do."_

 _The two women nodded before Sue became invisible and Elena changed her form into a million tiny diamonds._

 ** _This is so fucking stupid. I can't believe I'm actually sitting here with hundreds of wires all over me. I wonder what Sue's thinking about all this._** _Elena thought to herself._

 ** _"_** ** _I can't believe he's so blind,"_** _Susan's soft voice rang in Elena's ears._

 _"_ _What did you say?" Elena asked turning to the invisible woman._

 _"_ _I didn't say anything," Sue said confused on what the 23 year old meant._

 _"_ _Elena, can you reach out and touch Sue?" Reed asked as he glanced from his computer which was really Elena's to the two women. Her glittering hand connected to an invisible shoulder and both gasped. Diamonds littered Susan's skin before they both vanished, "WOW!" Reed gasped forcing the two to change back to normal._

 _"_ _What?" Susan asked pulling off the wires and walking over to Reed's side._

 _"_ _When Elena shifted, her reading went blank and when she was talking to you, yours fluctuated and when she touched you both were blank," Reed stated utterly amazed by the charts before him._

 _"_ _So?" Elena questioned sitting on the counter._

 _"_ _SO, you can block out anyone who tries you read your mind, or essentially read others minds," Reed looked up at Elena curiously, "What were you thinking about during the scan?"_

 _Elena shrugged, "How stupid this was and I wondered what Sue thought about all this…" her voice trailed when she looked at the blonde haired woman._

 _"_ _AMAZING!" Reed screamed making Elena jump and a hot rush of wind blow through the lab._

 _Susan glanced around thoughtfully before looking at Elena, "Reed, what does it take to make a diamond from coal?"_

 _Reed shot her a perplexed look as he helped Elena out of the wires, "Scorching heat temperatures and air, why?" Susan felt the slight rustle of warm air before looking dead on with Elena._

 _"_ _Who's the one covered in diamonds and white fire?" she smirked._

Elena focused on the apple, feeling her body warm up as her short hair brushed against her cheeks. She saw a tiny mini tornado travel across the table before hitting the fruit and hovering it above the ground. She sat there for a while just watching the fruit float in the air as the sun gracefully rose and filled the apartment with light. Her grey eyes sparkling in her trance. Ben was the first one up, but he went about his business of getting ready. Then came Sue who showered before going to the lab to check on the teams charts where Reed was still working on the machine. Johnny woke up when his stomach rumbled and he quickly dressed before walking with Ben silently to the kitchen.

"Morning!" he called out as they entered the room. Elena jumped in her seat, shifting into diamond form. The apple suddenly did the same and launched itself towards her 'attacker' as a shimmering, glowing bubble hovered above Elena's skin, "Wow!" he quickly ducked seeing the diamond fruit come hurtling his way but it hit Ben in the chest.

"Ow!" Ben groaned hearing the diamond apple hit the ground.

"Johnny!" Elena hissed standing up as her skin changed back to normal, "You scared me half to death!" her eyes widened when she saw Ben carrying the apple she was focusing on in his hand.

"What was that?!" Johnny asked panicked as Ben nervously handed his niece the fruit back who grimaced at the sight, "You almost took my head off!"

At his words, Elena's eyes widened, "I'm so sorry!" she gasped, "I didn't mean to," her voice was so small that Johnny literally flinched.

"What were you doing anyways, Lenie?" Ben asked as she looked at the diamond apple sadly.

She shook her head before burying it in her hands, "I was practicing," she muttered, she glanced up at her uncle, "Couldn't sleep."

Ben immediately understood and went to comfort his niece who just turned away, ashamed of herself that actually hurt one of her friends, "Hey," Johnny said with a curious expression on his face, "Think you could change it back?" she nervously glanced at him before looking at the apple that was now on the table. She scrunched up her brows as she focused on the apple. The fruit shook a bit before she let out an exhausted sigh, "Well," Johnny smirked, "I could always sell it on eBay."

Elena shook her head before turning towards the kitchen, "I'll make breakfast," she slightly smiled.

"Elena," Ben started as Johnny made himself comfortable at the table, "You need to sleep."

Elena sharply turned to her uncle, "I can't. Every time I go to bed, I relive that night over and over again!" her words were rushed out before moving to get something ready for the group.

"You never dream about the storm?" Ben asked curious now, she shook her head, "Why?"

She rolled her eyes which gained Johnny's attention, "I didn't care about the storm. It wasn't someone who was suppose to care for me and hurt me. It was a bunch of particles that changed our DNA," she stopped moving and locked eyes with her uncle, "It wasn't someone that I trusted."

Johnny watched Elena silently as she went about preparing the meal while Ben went to get Susan and Reed, "You're big on this trust thing, aren't you?"

She glanced up from mixing the eggs and nodded, "I only hate two people in this world. My parents. I trusted them with my life and they almost killed me," she sighed, "There's a reason why I'm jumpy. I bet you've noticed that."

Johnny smirked before standing up and leaning against the counter, "You bet I have."

"Well, it's because every loud noise reminds me of a gun shot," she stated calmly, "Johnny there's something you should know about my powers and yours."

Johnny chuckled, "What? When did you become a scientist?"

Elena gave him an aspirated look, "I'm serious."

Johnny smirked as he saw her leaning against the corner counter, he slowly walked over to her and nodded, "I bet you are," he said huskily as her eyes widened as she looked him over. He saw she wasn't scared or changed into diamond form and took advantage to that. Carefully he reached up and brushed a wave out of her face, "Glow," he whispered before leaning closer to her face making her sparkling grey eyes flit over to his lips. Without hesitation he dipped down and their lips collided. He felt her tense at first but was shocked when she kissed him back, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth. It was like a spark. He always thought Elena was just a craving, but now, actually kissing her, he realized she was something much more. Her tan hands moved to the back of his neck and brought him closer to her. The air in the room suddenly spiked and when they pulled back panting, she saw Johnny's blue eyes reflecting her flaming hair. Immediately she flamed down but looked at Johnny with those sparkling eyes.

"What do you mean she turned an apple to diamond?" Reed's voice hit them with a force, making the separate and look at each other with confused eyes. Well, Elena was confused about the kiss and Johnny was confused about this shining feeling inside of him, "Elena?" she turned to look at Reed who was entering the room and stopped when he saw the apple shaped diamond on the table. He immediately picked it up and went back to his lab to study it.

With one more glance over to the fire man, Elena started making breakfast again.

* * *

 ** _AN: AHHHHHHH THEY KISSED! THEY KISSED! OMG! What do you think Elena was trying to say to Johnny? Okay, I'll update soon. Please leave a review and no FLAMES!_**

 ** _Also I have a few polls up in my profile. It would be great if you voted!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	5. Just Like Them

That afternoon, Elena walked into the sitting area with her nose buried in a book. Johnny saw her walk in, bumping into the coffee table before sitting down next to him, her eyes never leaving the pages. He looked at her with a smile before realizing he had a TV show on, the X-Games.

"Need me to turn it down?" he carefully spoke, trying to not scare her. She glanced up at the Tv and saw motocross on and shook her head.

"Nah, I've learned to read with loud noises," she smiled over to him before letting out a small yawn. Johnny couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked.

 _Cute?_ he thought to himself, _Since when did I think girls were_ ** _cute_** _and not hot?_

"How much sleep have you been getting?" he asked seeing the light looking dark circles under her eyes.

She shrugged before making her grey eyes look at him, "Not much, a few hours each night," she looked back at her book before muttering, "Everything just feels so damn hollow."

Johnny being his usual self patted the spot closer to him, "Well, I happen to be a heater…what do you say, Glow?" she gave him a suspicious look, "I promise not to try anything."

She glanced at the spot next to him and felt the nagging thought of the opportunity to sleep before placing her book on the coffee table and sitting next to him, his body heat fulling hitting her. She never felt cold, just hollow, like something was missing. She smiled sleepily before making herself more comfortable. Johnny offered her some popcorn and she took a few before exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave.

Johnny had his eyes firmly on the tv when he thought back to that morning, "About this morning…" his voice trailed off when he glanced over and saw Elena sound asleep. Her head just barely above his shoulder, "Well, Glow," he smirked seeing at how serene she looked, "That's new."

He chuckled before looking at the screen again, jealousy pulsed through him as he watch "Cowboy" Kenny do tricks in the air.

"I gotta get out of here," he muttered quickly standing up and moving to leave but stopped when he saw Elena asleep on the couch. He pulled the dark color blanket off the back of a chair before dropping it over him before making his great escape, right after he grabbed his uniform.

* * *

Elena suddenly gasped awake, her eyes darting around the living room. Taking a calming breath she felt a blanket on top of her. Johnny. A small smile pulled to her lips before her ears heard the announcer of the X-Games speak.

 _"_ _Welcome a special guest. JOHNNY STORM! From the Fantastic Five!"_ her eyes widened as she looked at the screen seeing Johnny on a bike and performing a trick in the air.

"GUYS!" Elena screamed ringing her hands through her hair. The three came running in and stopped in front of the screen.

 _"_ _That was FANTASTIC! But Johnny, that's old school. Show us something new,"_ dread went through Elena as she heard the announcer practically taunt Johnny. Johnny's bike shot forward before going off a ramp. He did a flip off the bike, getting dangerously far from it. Elena's eyes widened as he flayed his arms before catching on fire and slightly flew in the air. He tumbled onto the ground making the room hang in a heavy silence.

He jumped up and ripped what was left of the motocross suit he was wearing to reveal his Fantastic Five suit, except, there was a logo on the front.

"He didn't," Sue said with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, yes, he did!" Ben said pacing next to the couch, "Flameboy never listens."

"What did he do to his uniform?" Sue was still using her motherly tone and Elena saw Reed glance down at his chest before covering it with his lab coat.

There was a reporter with Johnny now, " _I gotta ask about this outfit," she said pointing the microphone towards him._

 _"_ _It's like Armani meets astronaut," he said with a smile, loving the attention, practically basking in it._

 _"_ _So what are your superhero names?" the reporter asked._

 _"_ _They call me the Human Torch," he smirked, "Ladies call me Torch," the girl surrounding him cheered._

 _"_ _What about the rest of the team?"_

 _Then a picture of Susan appeared on the screen, "That's the Invisible Girl," he said completely proud of it._

"Girl?" Susan asked in distain.

 _"_ _What about your leader, Reed Richards? I hear you call him Mr. Fantastic," she continued on._

"Could've been worse," Ben said glancing at his friend.

 _"_ _Is it true what they say, that he can expand any part of his anatomy?" the girls around him giggled and whooped._

 _Johnny cocked his head to the side, "I've always found him a little limp."_

 _A picture of Elena came onto the screen, "What about her?" she asked pointing to Elena's picture. The guys in the area looked at her picture and whooped a bit, "Is her entire body made of glass?"_

 _Johnny chuckled and shook his head, "No, no, not glass._ ** _Diamonds_** _," the entire arena gasped collectively, "She's the Fire Gem," Johnny smirked, "She has a flame to her touch too, you know?" all the guys took interest in that._

"Seriously?" Elena growled.

 _A picture of Ben flashed up on the screen, "What is that? What do you call that thing?"_

 _"_ _That's it," Johnny smiled widely, "The Thing! You think this is bad. You should have seen him before!"_

"Okay, now I'm going to go kill him," Ben turned to walk to the door.

The three followed at Elena's hands shook with rage, "Let me help."

* * *

The X-Games were loud and crowded with people. Elena and Sue were leading the two guys when Ben fell short when he spotted Johnny's cherry red sports car.

"There he is," Sue said pointing at Johnny. He walked out to the street with a girl on each arm. Elena felt her body run cold at this, "Johnny—"

"Look, can we talk about this later, guys?" he asked, tightening his arms around the two girls he held.

"No, we can't! What were you thinking?" Sue said walking beside him as he walked the rest of the way to the street.

"Where's my ride?" he asked letting go of the girls he was holding. A red ball of crushed metal was thrown across the street landing with a loud sound.

Johnny watched in horror as it rolled to a stop in front of them. The license plate flew through the air, hitting his head and grabbing his attention. He turned to look at Ben who was punching his palm with his fist, "You think this is funny, Pebbles?" Johnny asked as his anger rose.

Elena stepped forward, "Johnny! You gave us names?!" she yelled, "You don't think!" the tips of her hair lit on fire, "Now, you're the face of the Fantastic Five?!"

"A face that's about to be broken!" Ben yelled stomping closer to the four.

Reed moved so he was next to Sue and Elena, "This isn't permanent! We need to be careful until we're normal again!"

"What if I don't want to be normal?" Johnny looked at Ben, "I didn't turn into a monster!" pain went through Elena as rage radiated off Ben. Ben raised his arm, moving to punch Johnny when Elena's diamond covered hand shot out and grabbed Ben's fist, stopping it from colliding with his face.

"Be the better man, Ben," Elena whispered making Ben turn around and Elena trail after him, in full diamond form and keeping her eyes on Johnny.

"Johnny, say you're sorry," Sue said with edge on her voice. Instead of apologizing, he shot a fireball at Ben. Elena reacted by pushing her uncle out of the way. Johnny looked at her with orange eyes making her slightly step back, he shot another fireball, this time at Elena. Moving her arm up to shield her face it collided with her bare skin. Elena's diamond skin couldn't protect her from Johnny's flame, not when it was intentionally used to harm her. A scream ripped from her throat as she gripped her arm, the smell of burning flesh filling her nose.

Johnny's eyes widened in horror when he realized what he had done. His stomach sinking when he saw her face contorted in pain, pain he caused. She cradled her burnt arm, a whimper electing from her lips whenever she moved. Reed appeared at her side, gently taking her arm to see the damage. His face paled when he saw how bad it was.

Ben had turned when he heard his niece scream, his eyes narrowing when he saw her burnt arm, "That's it, Tinkerbell! You wanna fly? Then FLY!" Ben went to punch Johnny but Reed moved in front of him at the last second sending Johnny flying back against a Burger King billboard and setting parts of it on fire. He jumped down, ready to go at Ben.

"Wait a minute, guys," Sue said in an attempt to stop their fighting, "Ben, don't do this," Elena was struggling to stay on her feet as she looked at her arm. From her finger tips to her upper arm her skin was red, blotchy and bleeding.

"Let's see if we can get blood from a stone," Johnny said, his face cold.

"Let's see. Bring it, Burnout!" Ben moved closer and closer to Johnny.

"You two need a time-out!" Sue yelled stepping in between them with her arms spread out to break the two apart. Ben looked from Sue to his niece who was being supported by Reed before turning around and walking away.

"Talk to blockhead! He started it!" Johnny yelled while throwing his arms into the air in anger.

"I don't care!" Sue yelled back, "Dammit, Johnny," she turned to run after Ben, "Ben wait!"

Reed carefully moved Elena behind him before Johnny turned to him, "What?"

"You need to control yourself and think before you act," Reed said practically scolding him.

"Yeah, but that's your problem — you always think but you never act," he pointed a finger at Reed.

"Johnny," Reed sighed, "You already seriously injured someone. Without control you could kill someone!" Johnny's eyes narrowed on the scientist..

"What if we got these powers for a reason? What if it's like some higher calling?" Johnny asked holding his arms out.

"A higher calling? Like getting girls and money?" Reed asked, slightly disgusted.

"Is there any higher?" Reed's gaze moved to Elena, "You know what, Reed? This is who we are. Accept it," Johnny turned to move away but then turned back to Reed, "Or better yet…Enjoy it."

He was about to turn around when Elena finally spoke up, "How can we?" she asked, her burnt arm cradled in the other as she walked towards Reed.

Johnny's mind was suddenly hit with Reed's words. _You already seriously injured someone._ "Glow," he started but she shook her head.

"You didn't even blink," she whispered. Johnny took a step towards her and she did something that no one would ever think she would do. Diamonds crept up to cover her skin, "Don't come near me."

Her words and actions hit Johnny like a bullet, "Elena," he pleaded taking another step forward which made her slightly stumble back, her entire body covered in diamonds.

"You're just like them," she whispered making Reed and Johnny look at her with wide eyes, "I trusted you," Johnny's face fell when her grey eyes looked at him with no sparkle.

"Elena please," he reached out for her hand.

"Don't touch me!" he heard the diamonds tightening around her, "You're just like them," her voice shook with an oncoming sob, "I hate you," his blue eyes widened, "I hate you!"

Johnny stood there in defeat as Reed took a crying Elena in his arms and pulled her away to get her fixing up, each step made her wince, but she never looked back to the blonde who **_felt_** like a monster.

* * *

Elena sat in the lab, hissing each time Reed's hand approached her burn. Tears were escaping her eyes the entire time, but not from the burn. Her skin was still in diamond form, except where the burn was. She felt vulnerable and scared.

Reed glanced up at her while bandaging her arms. Her once sparkling eyes were filling with tears that hit her diamond cheeks, the last time he ever saw her like this was when Billy Montgomery broke up with her when she was seventeen. He was a dancer at her old company and when she finally got free from the government after the dare, he broke up with her.

"I'm going to give you a sedative," Reed said while he finished wrapping her arm. She glanced up at him, "Put you're suit on. The compression will be good for your burn."

"I don't know if I **can** sleep," she whispered.

Reed sighed and helped her stand up, "He didn't mean it," Elena looked at him blankly.

"I guess."

"Elena," Reed started as he gave her her suit, "Have you seen the way Johnny looks at you?" she sent him a raised eyebrow before moving behind a piece of equipment to change.

"You mean how he wants to fuck me into the next century? How could I miss it?" she rolled her eyes before wincing while zipping up her suit. She walked back over into Reed's view.

"No, well he looked at you like that before the storm," Reed confessed, "But afterwards? In the facility? It was different. Softer," Elena rolled her eyes again as she let him check on her arm in the suit, "He loves you,"

Elena's body froze, "Is Reed Richards playing matchmaker?" she stiffly teased before she went over to the table by the machine Reed was making to cure them, threw her spare clothes on top of it before laying down, using her clothes as a pillow. Reed walked over to her and gave her the sedating shot making Elena sadly glancing over at him, "Johnny doesn't love anyone except himself," her entire form become diamond as she let her eyes drift close.

* * *

Victor Von Doom watched from one of the many screens he had that showed him the Richards residence. He smirked as he saw Elena's sleeping form in the lab, but in completely diamond form.

 _Stronger than diamonds!_ the now dead doctor's voice filled Victor's mind.

"Now that the Gem is asleep, we can see what really happens to diamonds and this metal," he smirked before calling his assistance Leonard.

"Yes, sir?"

"When you pick up out asset, I need you to bring back a gem for me."

"Which one?" Leonard asked curiously as he saw a shock collar made up of the same metal as Victor's hands in his boss's fingers.

"The Fire Gem."

* * *

"Hah, Victor! It worked!" a voice exclaimed happily. A shaky figure walked out of the transformation chamber, feeling and looking like the man he once had been, "Vic?" Ben called out once more. He looked around Reed's empty lab and raised a brow as he pulled his pants up a bit and tightened the strings around the waist. Pulling his coat on to cover his bare upper body, Ben looked around before seeing several diamond lab equipment, a bad feeling raised in his gut when he thought of only one person who could do that, but only when she was scared.

"Everyone thought I was safe behind those shields," Ben quickly turned around and his jaw fell with a completely stunned look on his face. He took a step back as Victor revealed himself from the shadows, the scar on his face showing metal underneath his skin, along with many other scars and burns on his body he has just received. Ben tried not to stare as steam rose from Victor's body.

"The machine worked for me, it can work for you!" Ben said hopefully as the man before him smirked and shook his head.

"Oh, I know it worked. It worked out perfectly," he said as the feeling in Ben's gut imploded. His expression fell as he stared at Victor, piecing everything together.

"You planned this."

"I've always wanted power," Victor said as if it were an obvious statement, "Now I have the unlimited supply."

"And no 'Thing' to stand in your way."

"Or Gem," Victor's smirk widened as he nodded his head, feeling as if he were king of the world. If he completely his plans, he would have the world in the palm of his hands, "Take a look, Ben," Victor said, "This is what a man looks like when he embraces his destiny," not having a chance to really react, Ben's eyes widened as he felt Victor back hand him with so much strength that it wasn't possibly normal. HIs body collided into a bunch of shelves as he grunted in pain, hitting the ground. Victor laughed slightly as he shook his head before getting a message from Leonard that Elena was secure.

"Three more to go."

"Vic?" said man looked up and smiled evilly at Reed.

"Right on cue!"

"Ben?" waiting for a reply, but received nothing. Reed glanced around the lab and saw no white haired girl, "Elena?" the new presence turned his attention towards Victor, examining his now mutated body. A worried look fell upon his face as he held tightly to the railing for the second, "What did you do?"

"Exactly what I said I would do," Victor smirked, "I build a stronger, better being, and outsmarted the great Reed Richards."

* * *

Elena screamed in pain as another jolt of electricity went through her body. She struggled in the chair she was held in. Furiously glancing around she saw a familiar initial of a man she despised. **V**.

"Think, Elena," she whispered to herself before letting out another scream, "Think!"

* * *

Susan Storm sprinted into Reed's destroyed lab. Her eyes widened as she found Ben laying on the ground, unconscious. She raised a brow as she grabbed Ben and noticed his body had been rock hard to the touch. She grinned as she held him in her arms and took a look at her friend. Ben's body had been changed back to it's normal state. His skin was soft and he was the same pale color he had before the space trip. The happiness in Sue's heart began to grow as she glanced around, looking for the man she had thought was responsible for the miracle.

"Sue!" the woman looked up with a wide smile on her face as she saw her brother come running into the room.

"Johnny! The machine worked!" she exclaimed as Johnny shot her a confused look before running into the lab and his eyes widening as he saw his sister try to pick up the unconscious Ben. Johnny rushed to Ben's other side to help as the man groaned as he winced, his body responding to the pain more easily than it would have if he had been 'The Thing.'

"You alright, Ben?" Johnny asked as the two moved the now half-conscious man to the step of the machine, "What happened, big guy? I leave you for five minutes…"

"Th-The machine," he mumbled as he tried to get his breathing right, "Vic used it on himself, he was effected by the cloud like us," Ben explained as the color from their faces drained.

"Where's Reed?" Sue asked as Been shook his head.

"Vic must've taken him," Ben mumbled as he glanced around. His expression fell even more as he stared at the window. The two followed his gaze and their faces dropped.

"And Elena?" Johnny asked, "Where's Elena?"

Ben shook his head before looking at the diamond microscope and then saw a few shattered piece of diamonds on the floor, "He must've taken her too."

Johnny's heart sank when he saw the shattered area where Elena's clothes were. Sue stood up and walked towards the balcony doors making Johnny quickly followed. The two looked up at the broken window before Sue bit her lip as she glanced down at the shards of glass.

"Hey guys —" Johnny called out when he heard a strange noise fill the air. Their pupils dilated as they stared at the missile heading straight towards Reed's apartment. Sue looked to Johnny who looked down at himself.

"We've got to get of here," Sue warned as Johnny quickly walked up to the railing of the balcony. He looked down, trying to ignore the intense beat of his heart. He watched as the cars drove by on the street, the distance rather alarming for him. Deciding to go with his instincts, Johnny took a few steps back, rubbing his hands together.

"I have an idea."

Susan's eyes widened, "Johnny!" she snapped as a very stern, motherly gleam appeared in Sue's eyes. "Don't even think about it."

"Never do," without a second thought, Johnny leaped over the balcony, arms wide open. Sue gasped as she quickly ran to the railing, watching her brother fall.

"Johnny!" she called out before seeing the missile dip down to chase after him.

"Come on!" Johnny mumbled to himself as he glanced back at the missile. He ignored the pressure from the fall and the fact that his eyes were beginning to tear up a bit, and stared down at the inclosing street. Waiting for the right moment, he concentrated blocking everything around him out, "FLAME ON!" the feeling was amazing, it felt so natural. His clothes burned away in an instant, leaving him with his space suit turned Fantastic Five uniform. He could feel the breeze, it was barely noticeable, and as he flew past the cars and buildings, feeling free, "Now," turning his attention to the missile behind him, Johnny put his game face on, "Let's do this."

Sue decided what she needed to do and moved to go get her suit. Ben was waiting in the doorway, he winced, trying to gather as much strength as he could, "We need to help Elena and Reed."

"It's too dangerous for you now," Sue warned as she gave Ben's shoulders a slight squeeze before running past him to get her suit.

Ben watched her with a defeated look on his face, "What did I do?" he mumbled to himself softly. His thoughts suddenly began to work themselves as a crazy, but good, yet still insane idea popped into his head. Glancing over at the transformation chamber, he smirked.

The man engulfed in flames glanced over his shoulder and shook his as head as he watched the missile follow after him. Quickly avoiding a large skyscraper, Johnny flew higher, not the clouds, and within seconds, he shot a fire ball into the sky and turned his flames off, returning to the natural state of his body. He began to fall back down towards the city and watched as the missile followed his fireball. He inwardly sigh, a wave of relief running through him, but as he realized he raised a brow, something pushing past the clouds towards him. He watched as the missile continued to chase after him and quickly downed himself in his flames again.

 _"_ _New plan,"_ he thought to himself as he tried to think of another one. Making his way towards the coast of New York City, Johnny gritted his teeth as he shook his head, "C'mon! Think Johnny! Think!" he shouted to himself as he glanced around the water. He smirked as he found a garbage barge sitting peacefully in the water. Glancing one last time at the heat seeking missile, Johnny aimed a line of fire at the boat, the garbage catching on fire easily. Going through the flames, the missile fire, colliding with the boat and causing a large explosion. Johnny's eyes widened as the force of the explosion threw him into the water, "Whoa!" his flames were doused and he was spinning through the water uncontrollably.

* * *

Elena saw an explosion and let out a heart breaking scream, knowing exactly who that missile was tracking. Then she got angry, her diamond skin rubbing against the metal furiously as her body began to heat up.

* * *

 ** _AN: Well shit….Things are picking up! FYI Elena isn't in that conference room where Reed is, she's in the Genetics Lab were Sue worked, which I'm placing a few floors down._**

 ** _Leave a review and no FLAMES! We get enough of that from Johnny._**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	6. Need a Little Help

"Ah, three down, two to go," a deep voice said. A smirk appeared behind a metal mask as a man watched an explosion from afar. The man wore a dark forest green hooded cloak, his hands and feet covered in metal boots and gloves to insure he was able to use his strength to its abilities.

The latch on the machine connected to Reed flipped, a gentle hissing sound escaping it. Reed's eyes looked around, trying to find what flipped the switch. The metal findings around his wrists were unscrewed and removed. The tank on the back of the chair started to move.

"Sue," he wheezed, she pressed and invisible finger to his lips.

"What has he down to you?" she asked while unscrewing his other bond.

"How romantic," A voice cooed form behind them making Sue gasp causing her to become visible.

"Victor, please," She said sidestepping beside Reed.

"Call me Doom."

"The machines works. It worked on Ben. It can work on you. We can turn you back," Sue said. Unbeknownst to everyone except Reed, light was emanating from his apartment.

"Do you really think fate turned us into gods so we could refuse these gifts?" Victor took a step closer to Sue.

"Victor, you always thought you were a god," Sue sassed, "Now back off."

"Susan, let's not fight," Victor teased.

"No, let's," she shot a blast of energy at him making him stumble backward and the window break behind him.

He looked up at her, "Susan, you're fired," he said as he shot a surge of electricity at her making Sue to fly through the air and hit the wall, "To think I was about to share my life with you," he walked past Reed and towards her. With a slight intake of breath she became invisible, causing him to exhale in frustration, "Marco…" his head moved from side to side, searching for signs for Sue, "Polo…" Victor still looked, "Marc—" Victor started to say but this time Sue cut him off with another surge of energy. She sent two more waves a him before he used electricity to stop. His arm shot out and grabbed her by the throat, "Did you say goodbye to your brother, Johnny?" he asked lifting her higher off the ground. On cue a female scream ripped through the building, the same scream that Reed heard when Victor was torturing him. Victor threw Susan to land next to Reed, the two shared a loving look, "It's time to end this," Sue looked up at Reed, panic visible in her face.

Then Ben crashed through the wall behind Victor, "No, Vic. It's clobberin' time!" his fist collided with Victor's chest, sending him flying back and against the wall. The wooden display fell and landed on him making Ben smile, "Damn, I've ben waiting to do that," he walked forwards and towards Reed and Sue, "Susie, you okay?" she quickly finished her work and released Reed, "Victor ain't that bad, huh? He's just a little larger than life, right?" Ben scoffed, "Maybe next time you'll listen to me before—" the lights suddenly went out, leaving them in darkness.

"Ben!" Sue warned as a figure ran towards him, pushing the both of them out of the window. They fell through the air and into a pool that happened to be on the roof of a building. They crashed through the glass ceiling and into the water, cracking the bottom of it. Ben landed a punch on Victor's shoulder, which caused the floor to cave in. The water fell through the cracks making it spill into the hallways, carrying Ben and Victor with them. The window at the end of the hall broke, allowing the water to fall onto the street below.

Ben and Victor crashed into a dumpster truck. The driver skidded to a stop, onlookers gasping as dents appeared in the side of the truck. The back of the truck gave way and Ben went flying through the air, landing in the windshield of an oncoming car. The women inside screamed as the car swerved around the road. When they finally did stop, Ben stood and looked back to the dumpster truck. The hatch slowly opened to reveal Victor.

The police pooled up and commanded Victor to step out of the vehicle. He, being the ass that he was, didn't listen. Electricity gathered around him and he used his hands to direct it at the police cars, "Take him out!" an officer yelled, the police opened fire on him but their bullets didn't have any affect. They bounced and ricocheted off him. He lifted his hands to block them, turning towards the officers who eyes widened.

"Ladies, I'm going to need your car!" Ben said keeping his eyes trained on Victor.

"The transmission sticks!" one of the women yelled.

"Not going to be a problem," he grunted. He stuck his arm under the front of the car and flipped. The car was sent flying through the air, heading directly at Victor. It forced him back into a bus making it skid across the street.

Ben waited in agonizing silence for any sighs of Victor. The doors opened and Victor stepped out, the hood of his cloak revealing his metal mask. Ben growled and ran forward. Victor kicked up the pole by his feet and slammed it into Ben's chest as he ran up to him. Ben flipped through the air and crashed onto the street. The cement beneath him crumbled and gave way. Victor walked to him, the pole in his hand like a spear as he laughed, "Goodbye Ben," he raised the pole and was about to bring it down when a voice interrupted him.

"I can't let you do that."

"Reed?" he laughed again, "I'll be right with you," he raised the pole above him and tried to bring it down on Ben another person stopped him. A forcefield appeared in between Ben and the end of the pole, he spun to face them, "Hello, Susan," Ben got up and stood with his friends, "You three are pathetic!" he hissed then a fireball was launched at his chest, igniting his clothes. Johnny. He landed next to Reed, the flames disappearing from his body.

"You missed me," he smirked but with a quick glance he realized he was missing someone.

Suddenly a bright sphere hit Victor straight in the forehead making them all flinch, "Hey dumbass! Next time you try to tie me up," the five looked at the figure floated down to the ground, "Make sure the restraints can take the heat," she landed next to Ben with a smirk.

Johnny looked at her with a soft smile before seeing Ben, "Had a little relapse, huh?" he asked, "Welcome back."

"This, is gonna be fun," Victor said, he leaned his head back and raised his arms. Electricity crackled around him, connecting him to all the buildings. He flicked his hand at Johnny sending him flying backwards and then he hit Ben. A trashcan was hit in the process and sent flying towards the running people. Sue used a forcefield to force it away from them.

Johnny was on his feet in a split second, only to see Victor shoot yet another blast of energy at Sue. She raised her arm, a forcefield blocking it form hitting her.

"I can't hold it!" She yelled and Elena felt her feet moving at her skin hardened to diamonds. Johnny's eyes widened as he saw her run in front of Sue and took the blast full force. She let out a painful scream as Reed gripped a mailbox before throwing it at Victor, temporarily distracting him. Reed jumped into the air and formed himself into a tire shape and rolled towards Victor. He them formed a thin sheet, almost like a blanket and covered Victor. He wrapped himself around him, constricting his movement.

"Johnny! Elena! Supernova!" he said looking to the two.

"I thought we agreed that was bad?" Johnny said as Elena backed up.

"Now!" Johnny and Elena ran forward, flames spreading over them before jumping up and flying into the air. Reed reached out to Ben who gripped his hands and pulled him off Victor. Johnny and Elena flew around Victor, the flames becoming higher and higher as the two different colors mixed together, "Sue! Think you can contain it?" Reed asked. His hand in front of his eyes to shield them from the flames. She wrapped a forcefield around the flames. Johnny and Elena flew faster around Victor, the heat increasing around him.

"Flame on, kid," Ben smiled as he saw the two flaming figures race in circles.

A drop of blood spilled from Sue's nose, she could feel her strength leaving her. The forcefield broke seconds later. Johnny and Elena came tumbling out onto the pavement. Johnny was panting while he looked up at Victor, but Elena's diamonds were blending together as much as Victor's skin was melting. Sue fell to her knees while she dropped her arms, exhausted. The flames died down quickly, exposing a melting Victor.

"Is that the best you can do? A little heat?" he whispered. Johnny looked over to Elena, his heart dropping to his stomach as he ran over to her.

"Time for your lesson: Chem 101," Reed said, "What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?" Ben kicked the top off a fire hydrant, water filling the air as Victor took a step forward, "Ben!" Ben put his foot in the stream of water, aiming it at Reed. Reed used himself to aim the water at Victor.

Steam filled the air. Ben and Reed waited for a minute before Ben closed the hydrant by bending the metal over the top. They waited anxiously for the steam to lift. Johnny picked Elena up into his arms, her eyes closed but he saw her chest rise and fall. Her brows furrowed and Johnny finally got a look at her skin and gasped. No longer millions of tiny diamonds, she was just one smooth form of diamond, no break up just smooth as glass. Her brows furrowed and when she opened them, her diamond skin vanished making Johnny smile in relief.

"Glow?" Johnny softly whispered making her look up at him. She softly smiled before bringing her arm around his neck so he could help her stand.

Reed's eyes narrowed once the steam cleared and saw the now still figure of Victor.

"Whoa," Ben said, his voice soft and under his breath. He then walked over to where Johnny stood with Elena weakly leaning into his side and chest, "You done good, kids. Come on."

Ben looked at his niece and smiled, even if she was leaning against the biggest idiot ever, she was safe now. Johnny helped her walk over to where Ben and Sue were. Elena smiled into his chest as the crowd cheered for them.

"Man, I love this job," Johnny said as he wound his arm tighter around Elena.

"Job, huh?" Ben asked as Johnny looked around and almost basked in the cheers of the audience that formed around them.

"Well, we do have the suits," Reed said and the audience cheered even more as Johnny rose his hand and bowed.

* * *

Elena read the sign that hung above the bar on the boat. _Thank You Fantastic Five!_ She smiled before taking a glass of champagne with Alicia and Sue.

"I don't think we need another," Alicia argued, laughing.

"Just one more," Sue urged before joining the laughing. Elena simply smiled at the two before looking over at Johnny. He had just finished being thanked by a couple veterans and officers when a large group of girls swarmed him.

"Oh. Oh! I need names and shots. Bartender!" he said, her eyes saddened that he returned to his ways of womanizing. She glanced down a her arm, now scarred from when he burned her. She was wearing a one shoulder black lace romper. Unfortunately the only sleeve was on her left arm. She was wearing silver heels that matched her diamond stud earrings and diamond necklace. Her white hair was braided in a crown letting the other waves brush against her neck.

Shaking her head at him she walked over Ben, Alicia, Reed and Sue. She weaved her way through the crowd and made her way over to them.

"Look, I've been crunching the numbers on the machines and if I could rework the power—" he didn't get a chance to finish his statement because Ben cut him off.

"Forget about it Egghead. I'm good as is."

"Better than good, baby," Alicia said making them all laugh. He went to clink his metal cup against hers but it shattered the glass, "You just need to work on your touch."

"Mmm, I like the sound of that," he said, wrapping his hand around her waist. Elena watched the two with jealousy before walking out onto the deck, tears catching in her eyes. She didn't know why she was like this, but all what she remembered was the full feeling she had when they were making the fire storm.

Then she heard something that made her whip around with wide eyes, "Sue Storm, will you marry me?" he asked holding up the gasket ring. She slowly turned invisible. Her emotions sometimes affected her powers. She held an invisible hand and Reed slipped the ring on,  
Sue, you kinda need to…say something."

"Oh! Yes," she giggled, "Yes," Reed let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and smiled as he stood up. He leaned forward to kiss her but stopped when she giggled and became visible again, "That's my nose, genius. These are my lips," she said holding his face and kissing him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Aww. She's kissing him," Ben said form the doorway, his arm wrapped around Alicia's waist. Johnny noticed Elena's disappearance and quickly glanced around, only to find her standing outside, alone with tears in her eyes. Sue and Reed laughed as the crowd cheered them on, "Hey, no more wisecracks about the way I look," Ben said looking at Johnny.

Johnny placed a hand on Ben's shoulder, "Hey, call me Mr. Sensitivity," he said before walking forward, "Okay, wide load coming through! Everybody move! He's huge!" Ben grumbled to himself as he followed Johnny.

"Come here, Mr. Sensitivity," Ben growled as Johnny grabbed Elena's hand.

"Johnny?" she asked but before she could blink, he jumped in the air and flamed on with Elena dragging behind him.

"Show-off!" Ben yelled after them. Johnny flew them high in the air before turning and flying in a different direction. The used their flames to draw the Fantastic Five logo in the air. Elena glanced over at him before slightly smiling, her new family has grown and she trusted them with her life.

* * *

Elena and Johnny flew around in the night sky of New York, neither one wanting to go back to the party that Johnny forced them to leave. She stopped when she reached the top of the Baxter Building, this made Johnny furrow his brows.

"What's up?" Johnny asked seeing her no longer flaming but her clothes weren't destroyed. She just looked, defeated, "Glow?"

Her grey eyes looked up at the sky as she slightly grimaced, "I guess somethings don't really change," she whispered.

Johnny furrowed his brows, "What do you mean?"

"Remember how I said that I felt hallow?" she asked glancing over to him and he nodded, "There was a moment, when I clearly remember not feeling that way," tears escaped her cheeks, "And it was with you."

"What?"

She gave a soundless laugh, "Don't you get it?" she asked, "It always comes down to you," he blinked at her, "But you're just a flame colder than that."

Johnny sat down next to her. He finally realized why he seemed her so much, "I thought you hated me," he whispered.

"How could I hate you?" she loudly spoke.

"You said so, yourself."

Elena shook her head, "You're an idiot," she said as her left hand rubbed her arm.

"How am I an idiot? You literally screamed, I hate you at me. There's a clip of it out there somewhere!" Johnny screamed making her slightly flinch.

"I YELL 'I HATE YOU' TO THE PEOPLE THAT I LOVE!" she shouted back covering her mouth when she realized what she said.

"What?"

Elena hugged her head before looking up at him, "Ben has been on the receiving end of an episode like that several times," tears streaked her face, "Because he cares so much and it took only one moment of pain for me to snap at him," her body started shaking, "Johnny, don't you see?"

He looked at her incredibly, "See what?" she gave a sigh before standing up.

"For once in your life, _please_ , just **think** for a moment of it," she pleaded while taking his face into her hands, "I **_need_** you to know," she looked into his blue eyes before jumping down to the balcony and going inside.

Johnny sat there for a couple minutes utterly perplexed. And then he began thinking about every moment he ever had with Elena.

The time on the mountain: _Her entire diamond formed hand was shaking as she looked at it._

 _"_ _Hey," he said taking her hand and as if it were magic,_ _the diamonds vanished_ _with a sparkling dust…._ She was the only person, who wasn't Sue, that he was able to comfort without even speaking a word.

Then the bridge: _Before any of that could've possible happen, arms pulled her back and_ _out of her diamond form_ _before cradling her gently in the arms…._ He felt so scared when she almost went over the bridge.

After the press conference: _"Hey," he said placed a hand on her shoulder, making_ _the diamonds vanish_. Her nerves were on edge and he was able to stop them.

During his first test: _"A part of Elena's powers_ _unlocked_ _while testing yours."_ His test helped unlock a major part of her abilities.

When she stepped in between him and Ben in a fight: _Johnny cooed placing a hand on Elena's shoulder making her diamond form_ _vanish_ _with a puff of sparkling dust._ She was **defending** him against her uncle, instead of letting him beat Johnny to a pulp.

When they fell asleep on the couch together: _the white haired 23 year old curled up next to a sleeping Johnny, exhausted from the tests that day. They weren't touching but one could see the_ _comfort_ _the two had next to each other._ She was only able to sleep comfortably near him.

When she almost took his head off with an apple: _"Johnny!" Elena hissed standing up as her skin changed_ _back to normal_ _…_ Even after scaring her half to death, she changed out of her form.

Right before they first kissed: _He saw she wasn't scared or_ _changed into diamond form_ _and took advantage to that…._ She always shifted to diamonds when she was cornered, by anyone, including Ben, but when Johnny did it, she didn't even care.

Then on the couch: _"About this morning…" his voice trailed off when he glanced over and saw Elena sound asleep. Her head just barely_ _above_ _his shoulder, "Well, Glow," he smirked seeing at how serene she looked, "That's new."_ She found herself able to fall asleep faster by just sitting next to him.

When she opened her eyes to him after battling Victor: _Her brows furrowed and when she opened them, her diamond skin_ _vanished_ _making Johnny smile in relief…_ He felt so relieved when she finally opened those pretty grey eyes and smiled at him.

Then his mind flashed to when they were hit by the cloud: **_Johnny_** _latched_ _onto_ ** _her_** _arm…_ He barely knew her and in a moment of pure terror, he reached out and clung to her.

His stomach turned when the moment finally came to mind, when he attacked her: _Elena's diamond skin_ ** _couldn't_** _protect her from_ _Johnny's flame_ _, not when it was_ ** _intentionally_** _used to harm her._ His gut sank when he remembered that day, it hurt him that evening when he saw her scarred arm during the party.

And then finally everything clicked. Elena's mind may have not trusted him, but her body did. It let down all of it's defences for him, every single time, well almost. Johnny looked at his arm, seeing tiny little lines on his right arm from where Elena cut him with her nails when the cloud hit. That's when right then and there Johnny knew, she was only acting this way cause she knew. She knew that her body trusted him more than her own uncle and that scared her, plus the fact that he was constantly surrounded by girls didn't really help. Immediately his mind went back their kiss and focused on what his powers did during it. His body heat rose, but not to the point of boiling, more like a fire in the middle of winter, his own hair came on fire but it never traveled down to his face, Johnny didn't even have that type of control mastered yet and there he was stopping it from reaching Elena's skin. Johnny sighed and looked up to the stars.

"I just need a little help."

* * *

 ** _AN: I know that this was short but…OMG! JUST FINISHED THE FIRST MOVIE AND YAY! OKAY SO I KNOW THAT THEY AREN'T LIKE TOGETHER TOGETHER BUT I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK THIS STORY UP INTO A SEQUEL OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND NO FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	7. Changed Everything

Months went by and the Fantastic Five's living areas, lab, hell even there gym got an upgrade. Each mission they went on kept the lights on. Reed's lab had the most advance technology known to man, they purchased more floors and remodelled them for their needs. Johnny and Elena now living across the hall from each other while Reed and Sue had a room of their own. Ben and Alicia moved in together. Even when they had the means to have their own floors, the team stayed together and liked the closeness.

Each person was able to master their powers exponentially. Johnny could control his fire better, Reed's stretching abilities made his work on gadgets easier, Sue was able to expand her strength with her forcefields and invisibility, Ben grew even stronger, and Elena was able to master controlling her hot wind. Her diamond form never became little diamonds since the Victor attack, she was one solid piece of diamond now and she was able to easily make other things in diamond form to hold them down, mostly crooks who were trying to get away. Reading minds became easier, but it only worked perfectly when both were in diamond form.

The relationships in the group seemed steady. Ben and Alicia were annoyingly so in love that it hurt, Sue and Reed were planing their wedding, but Elena and Johnny were still tip toeing around each other. Elena barely slept and Johnny usually woke up when she wondered out of her room and the two fell asleep on the couch. _He_ just didn't know, he never felt feelings besides lust before and it made him hesitant, sure he still acted like a playboy, but it was loosing its shine. Johnny thought Elena would never open up her heart to someone like him because it seemed so easy for him to mess it up. She went on a couple dates but nothing seemed to stick, so she preferred her singleness and made the most of it. But one thing changed, she hardly danced, ever. Since their house arrest was lifted, Johnny was gone the entire time, Ben went out with Alicia and the couple of the year were either out on a date or creating something. She felt no passion for it again, there was a lose in the factor.

Elena was off, mentally, she thought she was subtle about it, but someone noticed.

* * *

 _"_ _Last night, the FAA was forced to ground all it's aircrafts,"_ as the Tv screen played the news in the rather busy airport, two viewers watched carefully, sharing concerned glances, _"In other news! The much anticipated wedding of a FANTASTIC couple, Reed Richards and Susan Storm, will take place this Saturday."_ the concern of the previous matter vanished.

The blonde woman sighed as she gave her soon-to-be-husband an astonished glance. Reed gave her a glance as he turned his attention to the article he had been reading. He rolled his eyes as he saw an ad on the corner of the page.

" _Scientist or celebrity? Scientist, of course.'_ Reed frowned as he shook his head. It sometimes baffled him. The media had come down to that? What happened to when news talked about serious issues and informed people about things that were important? Now it was all about what was entertaining and what people wanted to hear, which was clearly all about The Fantastic Five members. Mr. Fantastic was disappointed to say the least, it shouldn't be like this.

"Unbelievable," he huffed, "Bizarre anomalies occurring all over the world," he roughly closed the newspaper, "And all the media wants to know is what china pattern we picked out."

"Hey, which one did you pick?" the couple looked up at the sound of the curious, deep voice, "The blue ones with the little flowers? Cause I really liked them," Ben said with a grin on his face. Reed chuckled as he shook his head while Susan smiled weakly at her friend. But before Ben could really engage himself in the conversation with the two, an older woman approached the rock man with a request in mind. Susan watched as the woman dragged Ben towards her song and frowned as the thoughts, worries and concerns she had pushed aside for their latest mission came creeping back to her.

"It's happening again, isn't it?" she sighed making Reed raise an eyebrow as he looked over to his beautiful fiancé. He shook his head as he saw the look of disappointment and defeat on Sue's face.

"No," he stated firmly, "We're not postponing anything! Not this time," he assured as Sue stared at the ground, not sure if she could believe that man, "This is going to be the wedding you've always dreamed of, and I am not going to let anything get in the way of that," he said with a soft smile, "Not even the mysterious transformation of matter at the subatomic level."

Susan smiled as her heart filled up with happiness before leaning into Reed, "That's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me," she said quietly as she smiled more which Reed returned with a loving expression as he leaned in and kissed Sue's lips softly.

"That's really pathetic, if you think about it."

The two looked over at Sue's little brother as they rolled their eyes at the chuckling man. He enjoyed the moment before noticing the lack of another sarcastic comment from a certain fair haired girl. Glancing down his eyes softened.

"Is she actually sleeping?" The Human Torch looked up at his older sister as she left with Reed to deal with some business with the airport. The Storm siblings frowned while watching Elena sleep, her head almost in Johnny's lap, "Do you know what's been keeping her up?" Johnny thought for a moment before he shook his head and glanced up at his worried sister, who softly sighed before turning her attention to her fiancé.

To be honest, Johnny had no idea what was going through Elena's mind lately. For two years, he's been trying to keep up, but his ideas were always shattered when he heard those cut off screams at night. Each time worse and worse, then there was the fact that when she thought he couldn't see her, he saw the looks of complete worry go through her eyes while she glanced over at him. It was subtle, but it was to be expected from a woman like Elena. Smart, graceful and poised.

Deciding that it was time to board, Johnny gently shook Elena's shoulder, "C'mon, Glow, you need to wake up," he said playfully as he shook her shoulders, but Elena simply sighed and buried herself deeper into her arms. Johnny sighed and rolled his eyes, "I forgot you and Ben were related," he muttered.

He raised a brow when he stopped his shaking and removed his hand, listening Elena's muttering, "Victor…please…stop…" Johnny's eyes widened as Elena flinched, her skin around her neck becoming diamond, "No…" her voice sounded like a soft cry, "Johnny…."

Johnny quickly grabbed her a bit more roughly, desperate to break the nightmare, "Elena! Get up," he said sternly. Her eyes snapped open, her diamond neck vanishing as she blinked up at Johnny. He sighed as he gave her a worried smile, "Thought you were never gonna wake up," he said as Elena sat up rubbing her neck before looking over at Johnny.

"Uh, thanks."

This caught his attention, Elena always knew what to say, "Come on, we don't want to miss our flight," he said noticing the troubled look etching onto her face. Wanting her to smile, the flame thrower smirked, "But, I can understand why you were asleep."

Her eyes slightly widened, "You do?"

"Yeah, I'd like to sleep too if I was dreaming about me," this made her shoot him an annoyed face before a smile twitched on her lips.

"Don't get your hopes up because you're not in my dreams."

"But you do think about me, so I take it," she couldn't help but laugh at that with a shake of her head, their eyes locked onto each others and her face softened, a smile of relief on her full lips.

"Hey guys," Reed said breaking their long gaze into each others eyes, Johnny immediately missing the way her eyes sparkled, "Looks like we're flying coach."

* * *

Elena was putting her bag next to Sue's when her ears caught something, "I don't fly coach," she watched as Johnny left the plane and Sue sent her a pleading look.

"Fine, I'll go with him," she rolled her eyes before quickly following Johnny out of the plane. They both flamed on and got up in the air, level with the plane. Elena watched as Johnny flew next to her uncle's window, flying on his back as he enjoyed the day's breeze she saw her uncle move to close his blind but Elena mustard up some hot wind to knock Johnny out of his relaxed pose.

"Hey!" he called out as Elena waved happily to her uncle, but what he didn't see and only Johnny did was that the smile never reached her eyes. He flew up next to her as she saw her look sadly ahead of them, "Glow," she glanced over at him before slightly moving ahead and away from him.

She had been acting strange. It was almost unnoticeable, but those who could read Elena well, knew better. The first person to catch it was Johnny, who evidently, she was acting the most strange towards. He thought at first it was her mood, but then when he noticed her mood was permanent he focused at bit more. She had been slowly distancing herself from the rest of the group, spending hours in the gym sitting in the middle of the room listening to songs that she would never dance to. There were some nights that when she woke up half screaming, she would sit on the terrace and sob to herself, she didn't know that Johnny saw it and heard it. All the other rooms were too far to. The two hardly ever hung out together like they used to and her contagious laugh was rarely heard. They still bantered with each other, but everything seemed different. More importantly she never spoke of what Victor did to her when she was taken.

* * *

 _"_ _The snowfall came with no warning and no temperature change. It covered the pyramids in two inches of snow!"_

Elena and Reed sat in The Fantastic Five lab, one half-listening to the report while the other typed rapidly on his palm pilot. Elena was simply doodling, her mind sometimes flashing back to **that** night but she just kept doodling. Reed still didn't like her being by a computer by herself when he saw what she did to Victor when they were on the space station, "Reed, if Sue finds out you've been working on this stuff on **your** wedding week, she's gonna kill you," Elena warned as she glanced up at him, who was practically and uncle to her.

"Don't worry, this won't get in the way of anything, I swear!" Reed promised as he turned his attention to his palm pilot making her glare at him, he was addicted.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep," she whispered before going back to her doodle.

"Hey, honey?" Susan called out as she walked into the lab, she spotted Elena and smiled, happy she was spending time with _someone_ instead of being alone, "The city's trying to fine us for three squad cars we destroyed," Elena thought back to it, "But I only remember two."

"Johnny did it," Elena stated without even thinking or looking up. Sue glanced over to the white haired girl before chuckling as she turned to her future husband. Finding him not listening and playing with his toy.

She frowned as her irritation level began to rise, "Reed?" no answer, she glanced over at the toy and made it invisible.

"Alright, alright. I'm listening," Reed said with a playful smile on his face as he set his invisible palm pilot on the table. He looked over at his frustrated fiancee and his eyes softened when he saw the stress on Sue's face visible, "You were saying?"

"I have a fitting in a half an hour, the musician's after that," the Invisible Woman began to name her list of things to do, the happy look on her face disappeared and was replaced with nerves and anxiety.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Reed said comfortingly, "I'm sure between the two of us, we'll get it all done."

"And, what exactly were you doing when I just walked in?"

"I was just inputting my to-do list."

"Really?" Sue asked suspiciously as Reed smiled, holding his right hand up.

"Scout's honor."

Elena's head shot up, "Were you even a Boy Scout?"

"Hey, guys," the three looked back at the entrance to the lab and watched Johnny walk in, holding a strange version of the Fantastic Five uniform, "New uniforms just came in. What do you think?" he asked as he held it up. The dark navy and black colored uniform was covered in different labels of companies and brands, not very flattering to look at. Sue looked at the outset with disgust in her eyes as she shook her head, walking past her brother.

"I think there's **_no_** way we're wearing that, Johnny," she said as she exited the lab.

"Yeah, I'm with her," Elena said as she grimaced at the uniform, "It's fugly."

"What do you have against capitalism?" he shouted after his sister as he shook his head, tossed the uniform on the table before turning his attention to Reed which made him notice a covered contraption in front of Reed's desk and raised a brow, "What's this?" he asked curiously as Reed smiled, feeling proud of his work.

"It's a little hobby of mine.

"Yeah, **_hobby_** sure," Elena scoffed,

"Yeah?" Would it make a good toy or is it something uh…" he thought for a second, "Sciencey?" he asked as he looked at Reed then Elena.

"It's a little bit of both," Mr. Fantastic said as he typed in a few last things into his pilot really quickly. Johnny watched, not knowing whether to be impressed or vomit by the movement of his thumbs. Elena finally had enough of the noise and changed the pilot into diamonds, not shattering it, just making it out of commission, "Hey, Johnny," Reed started realized he was typing too much and stood from his desk to main control desk of the lab where Elena was, "Keep this quiet," he said as he typed a few things in the computer, "Elena and I crossed referenced and analyzed the global disturbances," he said as Johnny followed him and sat in the wheelie chair beside Reed's, "They were caused by cosmic radiation, unlike the one's that gave us our powers."

"Wow, that sounds _really_ boring," Johnny said, not even bothering to pretend to be interested as Elena snorted.

"That's what I said," she smirked still doodling, it helped clear her head.

"So, listen," Johnny began as he around at the knick-knacks in the room, "I have a _very_ important wedding issue I have to talk to you about."

"Yeah, of course."

Johnny smirked, trying to picture the face Reed was about o make, "Your bachelor party," he was rewarded by a funny face from Reed and a confused glanced from Elena.

"No," Reed stated as he pushed himself to the other side of the round table, "Seriously, Johnny."

"John," Reed raised a brow as he looked over at Johnny, the boy was leaning back in his chair eyes focused on Elena, "Tests showed that Johnny skewed to sound a little young."

Elena snorted and shook her head as Reed rolled his eyes, ignoring the comment and returning the conversation at hand, "Johnny, no bachelor party, it's not my kind of thing," Reed insisted as Johnny shook his head with determination in his eyes. He pushed his way across the area and stopped right beside the man.

"Do it for Ben," Reed shook his head, trying to zone out Johnny's words, "It means a lot to the big guy, you're gonna break his heart," Johnny said as a playful expression appeared on his face, "He's got some sort of rock-like heart, doesn't he?"

"I've got too much to do before the wedding," Reed reasoned as Johnny shook his head.

"Yeah, _so much to do,_ " Elena mocked, "You would still be on that **thing** if I didn't stop that annoying typing sound."

"Sue might have a problem with it," Reed pointed out to the two. Johnny sighed, knowing he didn't really want to pull this card, but, oh well.

"You know what I think Sue would have a problem with?" Johnny asked as Reed hesitantly looked over at his younger teammate, "If somebody told her, that you were **actually** investigating global disturbances and cosmic radiation instead of actually _focussing_ on the wedding, like you promised," as the young man pretending to think everything he said over, he smirked in his head, knowing he won this argument and hearing Elena's soft giggles.

Reed shook his head as he rolled his chair next to Johnny's admitting defeat. He and Johnny stared at each other for a moment before the scientist let a smile spread across his face, "A bachelor party **_could_** be fun."

"YES!"

"But **no** exotic dancers," Reed declared as Johnny shook his head, thinking for a moment. He held his hand out as Reed chuckled, shaking it with his own.

"Deal."

Elena laughed before standing up and looked over at the two, "I can just tell that this is no where near the bachelorette party," she dropped her pen on her doodle.

"Why's that?" Johnny asked with a smirk on his face.

"Not telling!" she called out.

"Elena has to come though!" Reed argued making Elena stop walking and look at Reed, "Wait, you don't have that date tonight, right?"

Elena thought for a moment and turned towards the two, "Nah, Danny's meeting me here for the wedding, said he had some business," she shrugged, "I'll be happy to come."

Johnny's smiled dropped and he stood up to follow Elena out to the kitchen, "Wait, Danny?"

Elena looked back at him, "Yeah, he's an Army Officer, a Captain, actually," she didn't have that lovesick look on her face that most would think her to have, she barely even looked happy, "He's my date to the wedding."

"He's a chump," Johnny retorted leaning against the counter as she got herself a bottle of water.

"He is not," Elena snapped as Johnny shook his head. She looked at her friend and she gave him a look.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked as Elena sadly sighed.

"Explain, please."

"He's a mooch!"

"Really, Johnny?" Elena groaned.

"He's a total loser."

"He's an Army Captain, not following."

"He's a complete nobody," Johnny smirked.

"Why would I want to see someone who's _amazing_ and _famous_ like you, idiot, cause you're just a player."

Johnny sighed and shook his head, "Try to see it from my point of view."

"Why?"

"Okay fine. You see a smart, courageous, smart, funny, hot no beautiful girl with extraordinary powers and she goes out with someone she barely gets."

"I've known him almost as long as I've known Sue."

"He hasn't been around."

"He enlisted after the dare!"

"He's poor," Elena rolled her eyes, "Wait…he enlisted after your dare?"

Elena nodded, "Yeah," she glanced at him before sighing, "He was the one who dared me."

"Well it's obvious then that he's using you," Johnny stated.

"If you seriously think that I can't find a guy who wants me for _me,_ then obviously you're wrong," she growled, hurt was rising in her eyes.

"This wouldn't be a problem if—"

"If what?" She asked but her sparkling grey eyes made him freeze, "That's what I thought," she whispered before turning around and walking down to her room, but Johnny jogged after her.

"You could do so much better, you know," he said gently throwing her off guard. She glanced back at him with wide eyes before pressing her hands on her eyes. Johnny realized she was crying, she only did that when she was about to cry.

"You **_still_** don't get it, do you?" she muttered with a sob etching on her voice before opening her door and slamming it shut, "Still don't get that you've changed everything," she whispered glancing at the door before letting herself fall to the floor in tears.

* * *

As the world continued to spin, the humans inhabiting it continued on with their days and nights. For the ignorant and unknowing, feeling everything was completely fine but was something was going to change that.

* * *

In the sky hovering above the country, Latvia, a silver shadow flew through the air at an almost unthinkable speed. As it passed over a dark castle, something hidden inside began to tire. Eyes snapped open before glancing around his metal cage, glaring through the front glass as a small smirk came to his lips as he felt his strength and energy gathering.

* * *

 ** _AN: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNNNNN. I don't know, it seemed so fine and okay. Okay, so what do you think happened to Elena while captured? And come on Johnny! You're being an idiot!_**

 ** _Please leave a review and no FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	8. Circus Life

"Well, look at you," Ben smiled as his niece walked in, "Reed said you were joining us."

Elena smiled at her uncle, "I wouldn't miss it," she smoothed her hands over her dress and Ben finally took in her outfit. It was a long sleeved black lace dress, it looked much like the romper she wore at the boat party two years ago, but it was tight around her. She was wearing a pair of silver sparkling heels and her usual diamond necklace and diamond studs. Her white hair was in soft messy waves down to her upper shoulder blades. It sparkled in its usual way and her grey eyes were rimmed with light make up that made them sparkle even more.

"I'm sure he's happy you're coming."

"He better," Elena teased, "I'm gonna be comparing his party to Sue's the entire time!" she gave a laugh which brought Johnny and Reed out into the foyer where they were suppose to meet, "And here he is! The soon to be married man."

"Thank you for coming," Reed smiled giving her a quick hug and she shrugged.

"Didn't have any plans."

Johnny was silent the entire way over to the club, Elena looked beautiful in every way and he couldn't get over the fact that her eyes sparkled when she glanced over to him. His body ached during the time of not spending time with her.

Johnny, Reed, Elena and Ben walked into the club. Rap music was blasting through the speakers in the large room. It was severely crowded with people everywhere. The four looked around before Elena took off, she knew the club well enough and was hell bent on getting some liquor in her before she went dancing. Johnny has also been here before so he looked around as if he was reminding himself of the place.

"This is it?" Ben asked, his eyes scanning the large crowd of dancing people.

"I don't know anybody here," Reed said.

"Yeah, I would have invited some of your friends but you really don't have any," Johnny shouted over the music, "Hey!" two girls pushed through the crowd and to Johnny. Ben's eyes widened when he saw them.

"Johnny, we had a deal!" Reed said. It took Johnny a second to realize what he was talking about.

"They're not exotic dancers," He walked forward, wrapping an arm around each of the girls waists, "They're just hot."

Ben and Reed's eyes met each other's. A silent conversation between the two of them of Johnny's sudden more open with his womanizing, especially since Elena was in the building. They couldn't help but notice at how one of the girls looked strikingly like Elena before she gained her white hair.

"You're Mr, Fantastic, aren't you?" one of the girls asked moving out of Johnny's arms and placed her hands on Reed's shoulders, "That's so awesome," she giggled and moved closer to him. Ben suddenly felt very awkward and excused himself to the bar.

"I'm gonna need a pitcher with the biggest handle you've got," Ben told the bartender. He nodded his head and moved away to find one. Ben gained a strange look from a man that sat next to him as he started to dance to the rap music that was playing. He glanced over and saw Elena laughing and dancing with a group of guys, Johnny had yet to notice.

* * *

Meanwhile, multiple black cars pulled up the Baxter Building. People in uniforms exited the cars and walked through the lobby. Jimmy made an attempt to greet them but they blew him off. Then walked over to the private elevator, pressed the button and stepped inside all while Jimmy tried to tell them that they couldn't use that elevator, but they ignored him again.

They walked out of the elevator on the top floor and were greeted by a holographic image of a woman.

"Ms. Storm will be with you shortly," she said, a plastic-like smile on her face. The man went to thank the woman but he hesitated when the image faltered.

Sue walked around the corner a second later, "Hello?" Sue asked, "Thanks Roberta," the holographic image dissipated as the three people walked over to Susan Storm, "Can I help you?"

"We're here to see Dr. Richards," the man said firmly.

"I'm sorry. He isn't here right now. Is there anything I can help you with?" Sue asked sweetly.

"Yes. You can take me to Dr. Richards," Susan blinked as she nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

Ben slammed down the third pitcher onto the bar. He turned to the man next to him and burped making his large brown afro blow back with an expression that was priceless.

"Sorry," Ben turned to the bartender and motion for another drink.

"When the universe began it was no bigger than a marble and then - bam," he joined the pads of his fingers and puffed them out to explain his point, "It exploded and in a trillionth of a second, it expanded exponentially to what became the universe we know today."

Only Reed would explain the Big Bang Theory at his bachelor party, "Wow you're really smart," the girl next to him said.

"Well, thanks, Candy. That means a lot to me," he said. Her hand moved to his back as another Pop song started.

"I love this song. You want to dance?" a girl said, jumping up and holding out her hand.

"No, I don't, really."

"Yes you do. Come on."

"No, no. Honestly. No, no, no, no, please," they ignored his pleading and dragged him to the dance floor, "I don't want to embarrass you guys."

The girls all started dancing to the music. Reed, however, just shuffled his feet nervously. Candy moved over and almost started grinding on him making Reed feel extremely awkward now, "Just loosen up! Have some fun!" she shouted over the music to him. He started to dance, it wasn't a complicated dance, more like a bouncing head bob sort of thing, "That's it!"

The other girls cheered for him and danced some more. He bumped his hip into Candy's and then the other girl's hip. He shuffled his feet back and forth before spinning himself around, using his ability to twist himself into the air. The crowd of people that were watching them cheered for him.

Johnny walked over and clapped Ben on the shoulder, "Guy really knows how to loosen up," he smiled.

"You're not kidding," Ben smirked before looking to Elena who was dancing in a booth with a bunch of guys.

"Where's Elena?" Johnny asked finally noticing her absence, but his eyes followed Ben's gaze and his jaw dropped to see the Fire Gem dancing with _other_ guys. They couldn't see it, but he could, her legs were starting to turn into diamond form, "Give me a second," Making his way over to the booth he heard Elena's fake laugh ring through the air, "Glow!" he yelled over the music, "Glow!" her grey eyes met his blue ones and he saw them significantly brighten.

"Johnny!" she smiled trying to move forward but the guys she was with blocked her path, she scowled at them before forcefully pushing her way through them.

"Hey Gem! The song isn't over!" a drunk guy yelled after her but then saw Johnny taking her hand and her legs changing back to normal, "Oh Torch! You can share this piece of gl **ASS,** right?"

Elena nervously glanced at Johnny who shook his head, "Buddy! You didn't know you had diamond dancing with you! So no! I can't share!" Elena's eyes widened at Johnny as he dragged her back to where Ben was.

"Thank you," Elena said nervously as they reached Ben. Reed was now stretching his legs to either side of the room and touched the walls, all three turned their heads. Reed then did the noodle arms which was extremely convenient to his powers. He held his hands to Candy and the other girl who placed their hands in his. He spun them around just as Sue waltzed in with the military people. He retracted his arms and pulled the girls into his chest with his arms wrapped around their waists.

"There he is," the man said pointing at Reed.

"Yes," Sue said, "Unfortunately," Reed laughed and continued to dance with the girls, completely oblivious to the people who were now watching him, "For him," she finished her sentence as Reed finally looked over and saw them, his smile dropping and he stopped dancing, "Shall we?"

Elena saw who Reed was looking at and froze, "Shit," she quickly turned around and hide her face, "Shit, shit shit, shit!"

"I think it's clobbering time," Ben said to Johnny seeing the man as well, "Come on," he patted Johnny's shoulder before walking over to the group while Johnny dragged Elena with him.

"Let's go talk in private," the man said to Reed who nodded.

* * *

Together, the five of them plus the military people walked into the kitchen, "How does Reed know the general?" Sue asked Ben.

"A few years back, the guy was trying to push a missile defence system. Reed testified that the technology wouldn't work."

"I'm only here, Richards, because I'm under orders form the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Personally, I don't like the idea of sharing sensitive information with a civilian scientist, especially one who enjoys the public spotlight so much," Johnny got comfortable leaning against the counter while Elena sat on the counter next to him, then he saw a man who was helping General Hagar tactlessly staring at her.

Reed chuckled, "Always a pleasure to see you too, General," Hagar nodded a curt nod, "What can I do for you?"

"As you may know, there have been recent unusual occurrences all over the world. Officially, we've downplayed their significance to the public but we're concerned that these anomalies might pose a credible threat of our national security," a man stepped up who's name was Frankie and handed a file to Reed.

"Not on the online chatting communities," Elena spoke up, "They've got enough chatter on this anomaly to make a new Bible."

"These were taken by one of our spy satellites three days ago," there were four pictures on each page, they looked to be a somewhat silver object flying through the air.

Sue looked up at the general, "What is it?"

"We were hoping Dr. Richards could tell us."

"I'm afraid I've never seen anything like it. Ben?" he handed the pictures to Ben, "Elena seen anything like this on your scanners?" the two looked at the pictures.

"Well, I would say that it is a meteor but the trail's all wrong," Ben said, "This thing's giving off it's own energy."

"None of my sources have anything like this," Elena said making Johnny question what those sources were.

"Take a look at this," Hagar said.

"These have been appearing in remote areas throughout the world since the events started," Reed looked at the picture of what seemed to be a crater, "Field estimate its diameter to be 200 meters," Frankie finished his statement with a tight lipped smile.

"If we're going to find out what this is all about we need a way to locate and intercept that object," Elena glanced over at the man who was staring at her and smiled, making Johnny furrow his brows at the exchange of looks between the two of them.

"I could create a firewall to block the online community from getting a glimpse at what this thing is doing. Even make a tracking system to gain anything anyone does post," Elena stated before Reed started talking.

"It's be possible to build a sensor, tie it to the Baxter Building satellite grid," Sue's face feel as he talked, "And we can pinpoint the exact location of the object."

"Good, so then you'll build the sensor and the firewall for us, we'll tie that to the—"

"I'm afraid I can't," all heads snapped to Reed.

"What?"

He stepped back and stood next to Sue, "You see, I'm getting married this Saturday. I just don't have the time."

"Richards, you know what we could do to Miss Brighton if she even glimpses into any database," Hagar threatened making her stiffen slightly, "Your country needs your help."

"Elena's charges have been dropped years ago," Ben stated.

"Look, why don't you call Professor Jeff Wagner? He's the head of the physics department at Brown. I'm sure he can help you," Reed offered.

Hagar made a motion with his hand that signalled for his crew to clean up their stuff, "I expected more, Richards. Even from you," the man looked at Elena who sent him her famous kind smile that few received. Johnny didn't know why it made him mad, it just did.

* * *

The car drove away leaving Elena and mystery soldier chatting up a storm, "He can't do much, but he will make your days difficult," the man said making Elena giggle with a shrug.

"When hasn't he?" she giggled as Johnny approached the two.

"John Storm. Fantastic Five Inc.," he held his hand out for him to shake earning a confused look from Elena.

"Great," he said before looking back at Elena with a kind smile while a car pulled up, "I'll call you," he got in his car and she waved him off.

"And he just left, I was clearly talking to him," Johnny muttered, "Rude much," Elena snickered at him, "Why were you freaking out earlier?"

Elena laughed before motioning with her head for him to walk with her, "General Hagar was a man who desperately wanted me to go to jail."

Johnny looked at her, "Why? Before the station you were as harmless as a roaring kitten," he laughed which she joined.

"Physically I was, but give me a computer and I was worse than a lion," she smirked at herself thinking back to her teen years, "I guess I still haven't told you."

"About the dare? Yeah, I've _still_ been kept in the dark with that," Johnny said with a slight pout.

"You will know," she smiled looking over at Johnny, "In time."

Johnny groaned out loud, slightly dragging his feet, "Why can't you just tell me?" Elena gave out a laugh before smirking to herself.

"That would ruin the surprise!" Johnny felt a need of praise for that moment right then and there. This was the most Elena had spoken to him in months and he was making her laugh. LAUGH! It's like nothing had happened between the two and things were back to normal.

"Who was that by the way?" Johnny asked thinking back to military guy.

"Oh him? Just a friend," Elena waved it off. This made Johnny smile, it wasn't someone who made her smile by the thought of, "Thank you, again, by the way."

Johnny looked over at her with mild fascination, "It was no big deal," he honestly said.

"No, I don't think you understand what I'm saying," Elena stated before stopping Johnny from walking, "Those guys were scaring me and you made them stop."

Johnny's eyes widened at the look she was giving him. It was the same look that she gave him after they kissed, "Well, they just didn't know who they were dancing with," he lightly said trying to keep the conversation up beat.

Elena smirked before starting walking again, "I guess they didn't," she said before glancing over at Johnny. _But do you?_

The two walked back to the Baxter Building, no one really stopped them, seeing the two chatting and laughing up a storm. Paparazzi took photos of the two. It was rare now a days to see Johnny and Elena alone on a walk. When they finally got to the elevator, Elena kicked her heels off, feet aching from all the walking.

"Never again," she mumbled leaning against the metal panelling.

"Not wearing heels?" Johnny teased, "But you have the wedding!" he dramatically gasped and faked fainted.

"Never am I walking from a club in these shoes!" she corrected herself, "They just kill my feet," she said as she rubbed her left foot. Johnny glanced down with a chuckle but stopped when he saw the burn marks on her hand. Elena glanced up when she heard Johnny's laugh cut off, "Johnny?" she asked putting her foot down.

His eyes saddened when looking at her hand, "I guess I never apologized for that," he whispered gently taking it into his hands.

"Johnny," Elena started but he shook his head.

"I should've never done that, even if your powers worked against me," he said interlacing his fingers with hers.

"I was going to tell you," she confessed he raised an eyebrow, "But you kinda cut me off."

Johnny sent her a look, "When?"

Her cheeks reddened as she looked away, "When we kissed."

Johnny smirked before brushing a strand of hair out of her face, "I miss your short hair," he whispered making her nod in agreement, "But I like it like this too."

Elena looked up, opening her mouth to say something but Johnny stopped her by planting his lips onto hers. Fire exploded in the kiss, not literally, but the passion behind it was so powerful it sent Johnny stumbling forward, pinning Elena against the wall. She gasped against his lips as their tongues danced, careful not to light any of their clothes on fire, Johnny weaved his fingers through her white locks and pulled her closer to him, chest against chest. The elevator dinged and they pulled apart, both panting.

Elena leaned her head against the wall to cool her skin as she felt Johnny place his forehead against hers, "So what was the dare?" he whispered between pants.

Elena rolled her eyes before pushing him away from her, "Still doesn't get it," she said with eyes that made Johnny do a double take. Her eyes were watching him carefully and with a new type of sparkle.

"Elena," Johnny started but the doors opened making her slip out of his arms.

"It's been two years, Johnny," she said looking back at him with heels in hand, "And you have yet to ask. All you have to do is ask."

"Ask what?" he questioned making her huff out in exhaustion before turning on her heel and walking to her room. He did the same and sat on his bed, his mind running into different directions. The kiss, the man in the kitchen, the club, the kiss again. His head perked up when he heard the shower he and Elena share turn on. It was next to his room and so he leaned in close to listen to the noise Elena was making. It wasn't humming like it usually was. It was the sound of her trying to muffle her sobs. His heart broke for her before he got changed for bed.

* * *

He was always a light sleeper, so he jolted awake when he heard a terrifying cry come from Elena's room. Running over he burst down the door to see her thrashing in her sleep, body in diamond form as flames licked the edges of her bed.

"No…please!" she whimpered, "No…don't!" his eyes widened in horror as she thrashed.

"Elena!" Johnny yelled running to her side.

"Johnny! No! Don't hurt him!" he immediately shook her out of diamond form before forcing her to wake up with a loud scream.

"Glow!" he gasped as she shot upright, panting and tears coming down her face.

Her grey eyes met his face and she gasped, " _Johnny_!" before throwing her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder.

"Glow?" Johnny whispered wrapping his arms around her shaking form, "What happened? Why were you screaming?" she shook her head before pulling her form away from him.

"I don't want to talk about it," she breathed out wiping her face free from tears. She was quick to check him over, looking for any injuries of any kind before leaning against her wall.

"No, Glow," Johnny firmly stated, "We need to talk about it," she shot him a surprised look, "This isn't healthy. Almost every night, you're waking up screaming and I can't take it anymore!"

She diverted her eyes away from him, "I'll tell Reed to sound-proof my room then," she whispered pulling at the hem of the tank top she was wearing.

"No, that's not what I mean," Johnny sighed before glancing at the clock. It was five in the morning. There was no way either of them were going to go back to sleep now, "Get dressed, let's go for a fly," Elena nodded before he left to get changed, he left his door slightly open to make sure she didn't go back to sleep. He waited patiently in the hall before she joined him.

"Why are we going out?" she asked walking next to him towards the balcony.

"If you're not going to tell me what's going on then I'm going to keep your mind off of it as much as I can," Johnny firmly said before taking off into the sky, Elena soon followed with a soft smile on her lips.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Reed turned around and looked at the person who spoke to him. Ben came into view, only to see Reed messing around with the satellite dish.

"Uh, nothing, just needed some air," he lief.

"You're making that thing for the general, aren't you?" Reed didn't answer. He turned around to continue working on the dish, "I'm guessing Susie doesn't know about it," Reed whipped around to face Ben, "Don't worry. My lips are sealed. That is, they would be if I had any."

Reed let out a dry chuckle, "Look, uh, don't tell Johnny," Ben went to talk but he was interrupted by none other than Johnny himself. He and Elena landed on the terrace.

"Don't tell Johnny what?" he questioned as the two walked in.

"Great," Reed said.

"Are you building that thing?" Johnny asked pointing to the dish.

"No, it—" Reed tried to talk but he ended up stuttering.

"If Sue finds out you're gonna get an invisible kick in the nuts," this sent Elena into a fit of silent giggles.

"Hey, hey, hey. We're keeping this quiet," Ben said placing a hand on Johnny's chest.

"I know," he said as Elena crept towards the door, "Just don't forget that we have Sue's best friend with us," Johnny turned and walked into the penthouse with Elena silently followed, evading Ben and Reed's eyes.

"Don't worry," Ben reassured Reed but then their eyes widened remembering Johnny's words.

"Dammit," Reed groaned.

* * *

Elena leaned against the window of Sue's room and watched the crowd below as Johnny pulled up to the building. Her stomach churned when she saw a girl step out the passenger side as Johnny yelled something to the crowd before joining his date by the reporters. She heard the conversation through the Tv.

 _"So, what does it take to date the Human Torch?" the reporter asked pointing the microphone at the girl._

 _"Fireproof lingerie and a lot of aloe," she replied not missing a beat._ Elena felt like vomiting before roughly turning off the tv and walked over to where Alicia sat.

"This isn't how I imagined it," Sue sighed her gaze fixed out the window.

"It never is," Alicia said as she held Elena's sapphire ring out for her and she gently slipped it on her index finger.

"No, Alicia. It just doesn't feel right."

"Sweetie," Alicia started, getting up from the bed and feeling her way over to the couch, "I think even superheroes are allowed to have wedding day jitters," Elena moved so she was standing near the window by Sue.

"It's more than that. Is my life always going to be a circus? Do we really want to raise kids in all this? Face it, we're not exactly normal."

"Ben and I aren't normal but we don't let that get in the way of us being happy," Alicia said, her head pointed slightly under Sue's face.

"Sue, I can barely go on a date without the media freaking," Sue slightly laughed.

"Yeah."

"That's not normal!" Elena placed her hands on Sue's arms, "Do you love Reed?"

"More than I've ever loved anyone."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Alicia finished for her as Sue pulled them into a hug.

"Thank you," Sue pulled away and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, "Okay," she walked over to where her dressed hanged in front of the mirror, "Oh, great."

"What?" Alicia asked, standing up from where she sat on the couch.

"I've got a zit."

"Can't you put make up on it?"

"No, no, I got it," she used her invisibility to make the blemish vanish, "Crisis averted. Now all I have to do is concentrate on that area continuously for the next eight hours."

Elena and Alicia both giggled.

* * *

 ** _AN: AHH! The bachelor party, the KISS, the moments before the wedding!_**

 ** _Please leave a review and no FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	9. In My Coding

Alicia was finishing tying Ben's tie as Johnny walked into the room. He was trying to see if Alicia would notice if he was there. He didn't even make a sound when Alicia turned to face him, "Hey Johnny," she said as she patted Ben on the shoulder.

Johnny exhaled and slapped his hand on the counter, "Wow. Does that amaze anyone else? How did she know it was me? I didn't say anything!" he ranted.

Alicia moved to pin the white rose to Ben's tux, "Well, to be honest, you kind of steel like ash," this made Ben laugh from under her hand, "Hi, Elena," each person spun to look at the new person in the room. There, in the doorway, stood Elena. She wore the same dress as Alicia. The dark purple lace hung just above her ankles. She held her heels by the straps, leaving her barefoot to walk around the room. Her white hair was loosely curled and braiding out of her face. Her makeup was simple and it matched Alicia and Sue. Her sapphire ring from her parents sat upon her index finger.

Johnny could only stare at how beautiful and graceful she looked. Walking past him, he saw her grey eyes slightly dart over to him.

"Now how did you know she was here?" Johnny whined.

"She smells like a fresh winter morning," Alicia smiled as Elena walked over to her uncle.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you were getting married today," Ben said taking Elena's hand and spinning her around causing the edges of her dress to swirl around her.

"It's Reed and Sue's big day! I'm so happy for them," she said with a genuine smile on her face.

Alicia finished pinning the rose onto Ben's tux as Alicia smoothed out the fabric around it, "Ow," Ben said with a smile planted firmly on his face. Alicia jumped and gently smacked Ben's shoulder as he started laughing.

"Don't do that," she hissed, "Okay, you're perfect."

"You're perfect," Ben leaned his head down and kissed Alicia gently. Johnny narrowed his eyes as he looked at them, while Elena looked at them with a sad smile on her face before setting her heels down to put them on.

"I'll see you upstairs," Alicia said carefully walking out the room, "Bye, Johnny."

Johnny smiled and slightly waved as she left before turning to Ben, "So, it seems like you and Alicia are doing well. Annoyingly so in fact," Johnny said with words that didn't surprise Elena at all.

"Yeah, I'm a lucky guy," Ben said, his eyes staring where Alicia just left from.

"Yeah, you are," if Elena didn't know any better she thought Johnny was being sentimental, "Question for you though," Elena stood up from where she was leaning against the counter, in between the two, "How do you guys um—" he motioned around with his hands before he clicked his tongue with a sly wink.

"That's none of your business," Ben practically roared as Johnny took a few steps back with his hands raised.

"Alright. I'm just concerned. I'd hate to wake up one morning and find out she was killed in a rock slide," and with that Johnny took off running in the opposite direction of Ben as Elena shifted into her diamond form.

"I'll show you a rock slide!" he yelled but Elena stopped him with her hand on his chest, "Why do you always stop me from beating his ass?"

Elena looked at her uncle, seeing his anger slowly vanishing before changing back into her normal form, "It's in my coding I guess," she shrugged.

* * *

Alicia was handed a dark pink bouquet, she heard the clink of glass and knew who it was.

"Johnny, you shouldn't tease him so much," she said, her eyes looking no where near him.

"It was a joke," Johnny replied, his voice monotone.

"I don't know. I think it bothers you to see him really happy and in love," she slightly smirked, "I think you're jealous."

"You think I'm jealous."

"Mm-hmmm," she hummed.

"Have you seen the women I've dated?" he asked, taking a sip of his champagne.

"No," she bluntly said with a small laugh. Johnny gave her a guarded tight-lipped smile, "You can only fool yourself for so long, Torch," Johnny was taken back this and his mind immediately pictured one girl.

He didn't get long to think of Alicia's wise words when Ben suddenly appeared, with Susan clinging to his arm, "Ta da!" his voice boomed within the walls. Susan was blushing under their unwavering stares.

"Hey! It's the bride of stretchy man!" Johnny exclaimed teasingly.

"Don't start," the bride whined, awkwardly shifting her weight from one heel to the other.

Elena and her date, Danny, walked in seconds after, instantly grabbing Johnny's eye. It was the soldier from Hagar's crew. He was wearing his Class A's, looking very clean and sharp. They were walking side by side, Elena oblivious to Johnny's stare because she was engrossed in her own thoughts. Something was wrong, he could tell from the way she constantly moved her ring with her thumb. Danny had his eyes locked on Johnny, clearly annoyed making Johnny tighten his jaw.

"Lenie!" her head shot over to her uncle as she picked up her flowers from the florist, "Come on, we're on!"

Elena glanced over at her uncle with a nod as Danny kissed her temple, his eyes never leaving Johnny's, "Of course!" she fell in line behind Ben and Alicia with Danny at her side, his grip tightening on her skin. She got the feeling she usually felt when her skin was about to change and pushed it away. The doors opened and the violins began to play, Elena remembered to wait for Ben and Alicia to get half way down the aisle before they started. She glanced back in Sue's direction and saw Johnny watching her and Danny with orange tinted eyes. Elena gently placed her hand in the crook of Danny's arm while the kept her flower bouquet poised in front of her, to perfection.

* * *

Johnny took in the sight of her sister in her wedding dress, Susan was always his older sister, even if she was wearing a penguin suit Johnny wouldn't have noticed anything different. But today wasn't one of those days. Susan was glowing in her strapless white dress. She was shifting uncomfortably and avoiding her brother's gaze. She was nervous.

Downing the rest of his champagne he set the glass on the table behind him, "You know, you don't look completely ridiculous in that dress," he commented.

She shook him a sardonic look at his words, "Is that obnoxious brother talk for you-kinda-look-nice?"

He stared plained before a true smile curved at his lips, "You look beautiful."

She smiled shyly and uttered a barely audible, "Thank you."

Johnny took slow steps towards her, his smile widening all the while, the sudden happiness he felt left his lips in a chuckle. He stopped in front of her, gathering his sister's slender hands in his. Susan waited with patient solicitude as her little brother gathered the words he wanted to say. He looked down at their interlocked hands for a moment then raised his gaze to her veil and then to her, "Dad would be proud," he said. Susan knew after all these years that mentioning their father was difficult for him.

Her heart melted at the love in his eyes and the smile slipped on easily, "I know," she whispered back blinking back tears before gathering her brother in her arms. He hugged her tightly in a solid affection.

* * *

The violins continued to play as Elena and Danny walked gracefully down the pale pink carpet. They parted just before the steps of the stage. Elena moved to stand beside Alicia, across the carpet, Danny stood next to her uncle. He looked shorter in comparison, despite being six foot two.

Her mind drifted to the look Johnny gave her before she walked. _What the hell was that—_

The violins began to play the wedding tune. Her train of thought was cut off when all attention fell to the doors. The little flower girl plucked flowers out of the basket at each step, and littered them across the floor. The guests giggled and cooed at the adorable sight of the cute girl. Johnny and Susan walked behind her in slow, rehearsed steps. Elena couldn't help but lock eyes with him. He was watching her the entire time he walked next to Sue. Susan strode beside him, modestly beautiful and blushing furiously. Susan passed by her and Alicia with the grace of a swan. Johnny released his hold on his sister and took steps back, as Reed reached out and helped Susan walk on to the steps and to the platform of the stage.

They stood under the awning widely at each other, as the good reverend gripped his bible and began to speak, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to…"

He was interrupted by the whipping winds of a helicopter that rose up into the air from the side of the building, "Sue and Reed! Congratulations on your wedding!"

The bride and groom exchanged exasperated looks accented by smiles before diverting their attention back to the reverend, "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to—" Elena's thoughts were going through everything from the Victor attack, her hands slightly shaking as she placed a soft smile on her face.

She was unaware of Johnny's blue eyes focused on her. _What is she thinking about so much?_ He stared practically smitten, watching the adorable way she twitched her eyebrow and crinkled her nose on thought.

 _Maybe Danny and her got in a fight? Is that why he was glaring at me? Did he pull something on her and she doesn't know how to end it? What isn't she telling me…I have to find out—no I should wait till she tells me._

The reverend was speaking again when a beeping sound suddenly erupted, interrupting the ceremony. Elena blinked out of thought as Ben and Johnny raised a brow and looked at Reed. The groom mentally berated himself as he quickly pulled the palm pilot from his suit jacket, a horrified look appearing on Sue's face.

"I can't believe you brought that to our wedding!"

"I know, but there's good reason," Reed explained as he glanced down at the screen.

Something was coming.

"Could we perhaps hurry this up a bit?" Reed asked anxiously making Elena smack her hand to her head, Johnny frown while Ben grimaced while they all shared the same thought: Reed is an idiot.

Before Sue could scold her future husband, Reed's palm pilot began to licker, the screen going on the fritz and quickly shutting off on it's own. A sudden eerie feeling fell over the crowd as the breeze picked up.

"Elena?" Sue asked feeling the breeze, but the white haired girl shook her head saying she wasn't doing anything. A low humming sound carried through the air, making Elena look up to the sky. Her eyes widened as the helicopter hovering over the wedding ceremony began to lose control, jerking in every direction. The crowd began to panic, people getting up from their seats and running to take cover. Reed quickly took a few steps forward as he looked around the city, all the power shorting out.

"It's too late."

* * *

The helicopter began to zoom towards the building as screams filled the air. Having no control, the pilots to panic as they hit the building, skidding against the ground. Elena was quick to try to assist the copter but it was a struggle. Reed noticed a pair of adults standing in shock as the helicopter, even with Elena's resistance, fell. He stretched his arms out and quickly pulled them away from the wreckage, Sue then ran up and placed a shield up in order to keep the copter from hurting anyone else.

"Ben!" Alicia cried out as the tail of the copter moved towards her, Ben quickly rushed forward and held the tail-end of the copter before breaking it off. Elena dropped her wind before looking up at the sky and as she did her eyes widened as a shining blur appeared in the sky, flying over head. Without even thinking she shifted into diamond form and rushed to the edge of the roof, throwing out her diamonds to grasp the blur. Feeling it lock she stumbled back a bit before Reed saw Elena's efforts.

Reed looked to Johnny with a a knowing look, "Johnny."

"But…this is dolce…" Reed rolled his eyes as he watched the blonde run his hands down his tux.

"Johnny!" Elena cried out in pain as she struggled to hold the blur in one place, it was out of her sight and it made it all the more difficult. She had both arms out as she struggled to keep her grip. She glanced over at him before grimacing in frustration. Johnny nodded before he sprint towards the edge and dived through the air.

"FLAME ON!" so long, Dolce.

Looking around, the ceremony had been completely ruined. The chairs had been torn apart and the aisle was blown away. The flowers withered away and were knocked messily to the ground all while Sue sat in the steps with tears streaming down her face.

Danny was helping people get out of the terrace when he looked at Elena. Her form in its glittering diamond state, her face pulling in concentration and then she was suddenly lifted in the air, not by her doing. It was like someone was pulling a string through her chest and only pulled that forward before suddenly everything slowed. Elena's mind linked with the blur's and an echo ripped through the air and towards her. It hit her with full force and knocked her back, all the way to the railing making her scream in pain.

"Elena!" Danny yelled running over and catching Reed's attention. She was out of her diamond state from the blast, she was curled up on her left side, clutching her head.

"Elena! Elena," Reed said turning her over before gasping. Her left temple had been split open and blood flowed freely from her wound.

"Jo—hn—ny," she breathed before collapsing unconscious.

"Help me get her to the lab!"

* * *

Johnny definitely had a bone to pick with whoever or whatever this thing was. Flying after this stranger who had managed to break free from Elena's diamond hold. He shook his head as he trailed behind a little. His eyes widened as he watched the strange silver being fly right through the building, not breaking a single window or brick. Scoffing, he flew around the skyscraper and waited for the being to emerge from the inside. His eyes widened as he watched it appear through the wall, leaving a ripple effect, almost like he was emerging from water.

"That is cool," gasping, Johnny quickly moved aside as the silver man flew right past him, leaving him in shock for a moment. Without hesitation Johnny flew after him. The chase continued for a while, the two flying out of New York and to D.C. Johnny's blood rushed through his veins and his adrenaline was pumping as he flew faster and faster. They flew over the city before the Human Torch shook his head.

"Time to end this!" having prepared to attack, Johnny didn't expect the man-like creature to suddenly turn and grab him by the neck. He gasped while he chocked, giving his target a sheepish smile, "Can we talk?" he cringed as he felt the hand squeeze tighter as they flew into the air, only going up. The Johnny flew past the clouds as the silver creature held him tightly. Reaching the out layer of the Earth, Johnny felt his lungs burn, his flames blowing out as a coldness crept over him in a wave, "Ok…you…win.." and with that, Johnny was released and fell back through Earth's atmosphere.

The intruder stared after the young man as he watched silently. His gaze hard, but not empty. He watched for a second longer before he turned around and stared out at the stars. One shines the brightest out of them all, catching the creatures attention. His gaze hardened as a chill went through his cold body before he knelt on the board he used to travel, "Your herald summons you," his low voice echoed in the emptiness of space, "Another world awaits," he said as he bowed and let his head hang low, "Let it be done, quickly."

* * *

"He looked like a man, but he was completely covered in silver," Johnny had returned after his unsuccessful chase after what ever caused the anomalies, and though he had return unscathed, there was something wrong. He wasn't quite himself. His body tingled and his head was spinning. His heart continued to race and there was an unsetting feeling in his gut that he couldn't quite shake. And although he put on a brave face, his teammates knew there was something off about him, "He was flying the…this surfboard type thing. I know it sounds crazy, but I know what I saw," he stated as he gazed up at his friends, General Hagar was now at the scene.

"So, did you follow the shiny man to lollipop land and through rainbow junction?" Ben teased as Johnny shot him a cold stare.

"I know what I saw."

"It's alright, Johnny," Reed assured as he gave the younger man a nod.

Everyone sat inside the lab, Reed staring at the radar that was melted and destroyed, a silver ooze remaining. Ben stood by himself while Susan sat beside her brother, handing him a glass of water. He nodded thanks to his older sister as he took a drink from the glass, though he still couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in his gut, "Whatever this thing's physical appearance is, it has the ability to convert matter and energy."

"So then, _it_ caused the anomalies," Hagar pointed out as Reed nodded, though there was an unsure look on his face.

"It seems to radiate cosmic energy when it exerts itself, randomly effecting matter," Reed explained as everyone listened carefully, "Evidently, this entity this…Silver Surfer," Johnny looked up with a grateful stare as Reed gave him a ghost of a smile before looking back at the general, "It didn't want to be detected…it destroyed the sensor."

"Not only the sensor," Danny said going through Elena's computer, "It destroyed Elena's firewalls and tracking systems to find **anything** on it."

"It…It knew it was being monitored?" Sue asked incredulously as Reed nodded.

"And it traced it back here," turning to Hagar, the two nodded to each other, for once not loathing the other's presence, "We're dealing with something **_highly_** resourceful."

Having heard enough, Johnny winced as he stood to his feet, the strange sensation in his body still bothering him. Sue stared up at her brother with concern evident on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she inquired worriedly as Johnny nodded his head.

"Yeah, I just have to walk this off," he stated before walking off, everyone staring after him.

"We have to destroy this thing before it attacks again," Hagar said as Reed nodded is head, looking at Ben and Sue. The two nodded in return, understanding the severity of the situation before the general caught their attention once more, "Richards, find me another way of tracking it," without waiting for a reply, the General began to walk away, his captain following right behind him. Reed sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, Sue standing to her feet as she gave her fiancee a stern stare before following the general out to politely say goodbye. The scientist shook his head before he glanced at Ben, the stone man giving his friend a sympathetic stare before walking off to give the couple a bit of alone time.

He needed to check on Elena.

* * *

Ben looked at his niece who laid on the couch with a gauze patched over her head, trying to stop the bleed while Reed had put some sort of brain reader on her to analyze the data. Ever since she was brought in, she was in diamond form, Sue had changed her out of the bridesmaid dress and into a tank top with some jeans, but Ben couldn't remember the last time he saw her in that form for so long, "Hang in there, Lenie."

* * *

Sue was walking through the hall when she heard a scream and Johnny fell past, his flames flickering madly. The woman sprinted as quickly as she could out of the building, shoving the doors open and ran outside, Johnny on the ground and groaning.

"Johnny?" Sue asked quickly approaching the young man's side as he panted, leaning against a light post in order to keep his balance. He frowned to himself as he shook his head, glancing up at the sky. He still couldn't gain back his control, "What was that, Johnny?"

"I'm feeling really strange, ever since my run-in with the surfer," Johnny muttered as he shook his head, looking up at his sister. Sue tried and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Maybe we should get you—" as Susan reached up and placed the back of her hand against Johnny's forehead, her eyes widened as a sudden jolt coursed through her body. Johnny gasped as a similar sensation ran through him, causing him to take a step back from his sister's touch. Suddenly Sue's body slowly began to be engulfed by flames, "Johnny! Why'd you do that?" Sue snapped as she began to try and pat the flames off of her body. A sudden surge of energy rushed through her veins as her entire body morphed into fire. A sudden surge of energy rushed through her veins as her entire body morphed into fire. She began to scream out of shock and fear as she tried to put the flames out, this overwhelming heat consuming her.

"I didn't do anything!" Johnny defended before gapping at Sue as her body began to float, having no control over herself, "Sue! You have to calm down!" he grimaced as he saw her clothes burn way and her body now flipped through the air.

"How am I supposed to calm down?!" she shrieked,

"Sue! Stop, drop and roll!" Johnny yelled.

"Do something!" she yelled.

"Flame on!" instead of bursting into flames as he always did, he suddenly disappeared making Johnny blink as he realized he hadn't moved a single inch, "What-" he winced as a stranger bumped into his shoulder another suddenly pushing him to the ground as they walked by, "Watch it-ow!" Johnny yelped out in pain as someone tripped over him and fell.

Meanwhile, Reed has been feeling a bit troubled as he stared down at the coordinates of each of the craters created by the Silver Surfer. He stopped for a moment as he frowned, remembering the defeated look on Sue's face. A pool of guilt began to form inside of him as he walked through the living room to check on Elena, before vaguely hearing a familiar voice screaming his name. He stopped for a second before he slowly back-tracked, his eyes immediately widening as he stared at Sue through the window.

"Sue!" he yelled as he rushed up to the glass, her entire body covered in flames, "What happen!?"

"I'm on fire!" she screeched as Reed stared with a confused and amazed stare.

"You're on fire!"

"YOU THINK?!" Sue screamed angrily as she jerked upward. Reed stuttered before before he quickly turned and began to run out, dropping his palm pilot as he did so. Sue began to scream again as she started falling, still aflame. Hovering over the concrete once more, Sue flailed about, people mistaking her for Johnny himself.

"It's the Human Torch!"

"I'm not Johnny!" she screamed.

"Sue!" Reed screamed running outside, before he looked up at Sue with a flabbergasted emotion, "How did this happen?"

"I touched Johnny, and now **this**!" Sue snapped as Reed looked to for him.

"Where's Johnny?" Reed asked.

"Here!" he spoke up next to Reed.

"Johnny! Try it again!" Reed instructed as said boy nodded to himself before reaching up and grabbing a hold of his sister's wrist. Everyone watched with shock, the same surge of energy shooting through Sue and Johnny before he reappeared and the flames around Sue were doused out. She hit the ground with a thud as she winced, whispers and murmurs filling the air.

"Sue!" Reed quickly approached the woman's side as she groaned and looked around, cameras flashing, "Your clothes," eyes wide, Susan looked up before she forced herself to turn invisible.

"Why is it _always_ me?"

* * *

"Where's Elena?" Johnny asked as Reed took his blood, careful not to physically touch Johnny.

"She was harmed during the wedding attack," Reed stated, "Something broke her diamond form," he explained.

"What?" Johnny gasped, "How is she?"

Reed shook his head before looking at his charts, "Her brain lengths are…off," Reed sighed, "She should wake up soon."

"Is she injured?" Reed shot Johnny a look, confused by his extreme worry for Elena.

"She has a gash on her head."

"Reed!" Ben's voice filled the air before he came running into the lab, carrying Elena and the machine she was hooked up to.

"Ben? What are you doing?" as he set her on the table, knocking off everything on it.

"Take off the bandage," Ben insisted. Reed shot his friend a look before doing so and groaning when blood tricked down her face, "She **isn't** healing!"

"I can see that Ben," Reed sighed.

"You should wake her up," Johnny stated, his blue eyes on Elena's diamond form. The two shot him a look, "What? If she's awake she can focus the diamond on her cut. When she's like this, it only protects the part of her that's not hurt," he remembered that clearly from when he burned her.

"And how do you suggest doing that?" Reed questioned, "Ben RAN into here carrying her and she's still asleep."

Ben rapidly shook her form while screaming her name at her. Reed did the same.

Johnny stared at her for a moment before walking to her side, not touching her, "GLOW!" he suddenly screamed and her body shot up with a scream in her throat, "Easy! Easy! You're okay!"

"Johnny?" she breathed out before clutching her head in pain, her diamond skin vanishing as she looked at him. She bit back her scream while she clutched the edge of the table and her gash.

"Glow, Glow," Johnny said gaining her attention again, "I need you to cover your gash with diamonds, can you do that?" she meekly nodded before forcing her diamond skin to cover the gash all while she hissed.

"Elena?" Reed asked cupping her face and flashing a light into her eyes.

"Stop," she groaned pushing his hand away and reaching to pull the wires off her head.

"Don't! I need to get a clear reading and a blood sample," Reed said making her look at him with a scowl.

"What happened?" Ben and Johnny asked.

Elena stared blankly while Reed pricked her skin with a needle, "When I gripped that **thing's** form, I was able to connect to it. Then it seemed to….punch my mind out of it's and it felt like someone was literally breaking my skin open."

"Because he did," Reed said pulling the needle out and taping the wound with a cotton ball.

"What?" Elena and Johnny asked.

"Daniel saw it himself, said that when the force hit you, your head split open, then you fell."

Elena's brows furrowed as she thought back to it.

"Wait," Elena said looking towards Johnny with worried eyes, "Why's Johnny here?"

* * *

The Fantastic Five sat in the lab, Mr. Fantastic was staring down at the data he had collected form Johnny. Sue, now fully dressed in a red blouse and black skirt, stared intently at her future husband as he stared down at Johnny's molecules with an amazed stare.

"All of Sue's results are normal, but Johnny's…" Reed trailed off, still rather intrigued by what he was looking at. Elena, learning that she shouldn't touch Johnny, sat close to him as he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Johnny's are _what_?" Reed looked up as he tried to hide his rather excited and interested smile from the young man.

"Your encounter with the surfer has effected your molecules. They're in a constant state of flux," he began to explain as Johnny frowned and crossed his arms over his chest/ He waited for Reed to continue, but the man's fascination took over, Johnny rolled his eyes before he forced a smile across his lips.

"Is that bad?"

"Well, it did cause you to temporarily switch powers with Sue," Reed pointed out as he began to type some numbers into his computer, "Ideally, I would like to run some more tests—" Ben, smirking to himself as he sipped on a slurp he had bought before the debacle with the Storm siblings, took a few steps towards Johnny as he reached his stony hand towards him.

"I volunteer!"

"No, no, no!" Everyone quickly gathered around the two, Johnny scooting far back against eh counter as he reeled himself away from Ben's hand while Elena stepped forward in diamond form. Her gash now a changing the clear diamond to red.

"Ben!" Johnny snapped as the man rolled his eyes and took on step back, "This is serious!"

"I just wanted to give him a hug," Elena looked absolutely disappointed in her uncle as she glanced over to Johnny. Elena wanted to lean into his side reassuringly but remembered she couldn't. She gave him a small smile making the young man sigh and shake his head.

"We don't know the extent of his condition yet!"

"It could be progressive, it could be degenerative—"

"It could be fun!" Ben added before he quickly reached past Elena and placed his hand on Johnny's shoulder. A strange sensation shot through the two as Elena stepped back with eyes wide. Ben feeling an overwhelming heat swallow him for only a second. He quickly stumbled back s he began to pat way the flames, his skin suddenly soft and white. Everyone stared at Ben with wide eyes as he blinked several times before laughing and grinning.

"It's me! I'm me again!" Elena looked at her uncle with wide eyes and disbelief.

"Oh my god," she breath out then she remembered something, "If Ben is…then Johnny must be…" the four looked back at the Human Torch, the man now bulky and orange, his skin was crackled and hard, and his shirt was officially stretched out.

"What…" quickly turning, Johnny grabbed the first reflective object he could find before he stared at himself. He nearly screamed at his own reflection as he stared a moment longer at himself, "Oh my GOD!" Looking up at Ben, the man smirked as his fingers, a small flame appearing at the tip of his index finger. Elena held her diamond covered hands to her diamond face, looking at the two with concern. She didn't know if Ben's flame worked differently than Johnny's did or not. Sue and Reed merely stared out of shock and a small amount of entertainment as Ben tried to control his laughter.

Reed stepped in front of Johnny, giving him a reassuring stare, "I'm going to fix this. I -" he was cut off by fireball hitting Johnny in the side of his face, causing Reed to stumble back and cover his own back for a moment before Ben grinned while Elena stood in front of Johnny. She was so tired of this shit.

"Ben stop that!" Sue snapped as the now normal Ben nodded in approval.

"I can see why you like that so much," he said throwing another one, but Elena blocked it with her hands. She didn't feeling anything. Having had enough, a determined gleam shined in Johnny's blue eyes as he quickly stomped up to Ben, said man shaking his head.

"Wait!" Elena quickly jumped out of the way as they watched the two switch back to the way things originally had been. Ben frowned as he stared down at him, back to his stony exterior. He pouted like a child as he huffed, "Oh, crap."

"So now what am I supposed to do?" Johnny snapped helplessly as everyone calmed down.

"For now, just try and keep your distance from us," he stated, a frustrated and hurt look twisted on Johnny's face before he stomped off. The four stared after him before they exchanged looks, Ben finally looking back at Johnny.

"You and me are gonna be spending a _lot_ of time together, buddy!"

Elena finally snapped, "Can you not?" her grey eyes narrowing as they all heard her diamond skin hardening, it only did that with enemies, "You're suppose to be the adult," she glared at Ben before jogging after Johnny, her skin changing to normal, "Johnny, wait!"

* * *

 ** _AN: WOW! Elena is now VERY defensive of Johnny! Damn…..why do you think that?_**

 ** _Please leave a review and NO FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	10. The Pentagon

_"_ _So how's everything now?"_

"It could be better," Elena stated as she held her cell phone while she stood in the kitchen. Elena needed time to think, plus her head was **killing** her. None of the pain pills Reed had given her worked. Danny knew he should've stayed at the Baxter Building, but opted out so he didn't get torched by Johnny.

 _"_ _How's Sue?"_

"Fine, I guess. Things a tense, but I think she's getting back to normal," Elena stated as she wetted a wash cloth. She had blood all over her head and neck, "Oh yeah, I won't be able to be around for the next couple days."

 _"_ _Understandable,"_ Danny replied.

Johnny suddenly entered the living area and stopped when he looked at her. Judging by the look on his face, Elena knew there was something wrong with the man. He just stared at her, "Johnny?" Danny's fist clench when he heard her speak his name. She said it differently than she did with other names, "Danny, I need to go," not 'have' but 'NEED'.

 _"_ _Yeah, fine."_ Elena glanced at her phone confused before tossing it onto the counter with frustration making Johnny blink with surprise.

"Are you okay?" Elena immediately asked as she rubbed her neck with the wet towel.

Johnny walked towards her with a frown etched on his face, "Now you're asking?"

Elena's face flashed with hurt before she held the towel to her face, "Yeah, because something is happening in **you** and I'm extremely worried."

Johnny's entire body froze with surprise and confusion, "Wait, you haven't been acting weird because of me?" Elena shook her head while trying to get the blood off her cheek, "Then why have you been so weird?!" Elena opened her mouth but no words came, "Come on," he sighed before walking into the entertainment room, which had a workout area, pool table and couches.

"Johnny?" Alicia asked seated on the couch as Ben sat up from the bench press.

"They want to break the team up," this caught Elena and Ben off guard.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked with an incredulous stared as Johnny sighed with a defeated look on his face.

"Reed and Sue. I just overheard them," Johnny explained as Ben and Elena blinked, Alicia listened carefully from her spot on the couch, "They want a nice, normal, **boring-ass** life," Alicia scoffed at that, "No more Fantastic Five."

"I'll be right back," Elena said getting up and running into the lab. She had a thought and needed a computer to fix it.

"Elena! I was just about to get you!" Reed said as Elena sat down in front of her computer and began typing, already knowing what Reed needed her to do.

Ben frowned as he looked over at Johnny. He stood to his feet as he approached his teammate "What do they expect us to do? Keep the team going just the three of us?"

"And what? Call ourselves the Terrific Trio?"

"When were they going to tell us."

"They'll tell you when they're _ready_ to tell you," Alicia interjected, making the swimming in, "It's they're decision, not yours," she said, "You can't be mad at them for doing what makes them happy," Ben and Johnny shared a stare after Alicia's words

The moment was quickly interrupted as Reed walked into the room with an urgent look on his face. For that second, the bad news had been forgotten as the two looked to their leader, "Guys, we've got a problem."

"I was able to get into Hobble and other astronomical databases to find this on the surface radiation," Elena explained as the five stood in front of the huge computer monitor. Images of different planets appeared on the screen, each looking uninhabitable and dry.

"I'm sorry, how did you get into these databases so quickly?" Johnny asked breaking the situation.

"Please! I hacked into the Pentagon when I was sixteen on a dare! This was nothing," Elena smirked then suddenly realized she revealed what the dare was and Johnny looked at her with a gapping mouth.

"He's been to all these planets?" Ben asked curiously as Reed nodded, a stern look on his face.

"And they're all lifeless now. **_Barren._** Some of them have even shattered completely," chills ran through Elena has she felt something pierce her mind making her slightly flinch, "Everywhere the Surfer goes, eight days later, the planet dies…" each member of the team shared a look of fear.

"How are we gonna stop him? We don't even know where he is," Ben pointed out as Sue frantically searched her brain for a solution.

"What about the craters?" Sue suggested as Reed sighed and typed in a few numbers into the computer. Hope sparkled in Mr. Fantastic's eyes as he stared at the screen.

"They're al appearing in numerical order," Reed said with a smile, "The last crater was in Greenland so the next in the sequence should be…" Reed looked down at he panel beneath him, "Latitude: 51 degrees, 30 minutes north; longitude: 0 degrees, seven minutes west."

Elena's eyes widened, "London."

"Sue, get General Hagar on the phone now."

"Why is no one else freaking out that Elena hacked into the pentagon?! The PENTAGON!"

"Alright, when he surfaces we have to make sure to keep the fight away from the people!" Reed called out as he looked down, the helicopter arriving at their destination.

"He's too fast for that. If I see Silver, I'm going after him," Johnny called out as Reed frowned. Elena glanced at Johnny with a worried expression. This wasn't to go well.

"You can't do that, Johnny. You have to stick to the plan and work as a team."

"Oh, so **_now_** we're a team!" Elena sighed as she looked out to the London sights while Sue and Reed glanced at one another.

"Of course we are. What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Johnny shot back as realization came over the couple. Sue frowned at her brother as Reed gave him a sympathetic stare.

"Look, we were going to tell you guys—"

"When?" Johnny snapped form the front seat of the copter, "When you guys moved your stuff out of the Baxter Building?"

"Johnny, this isn't really a good time," Sue pointed out but Ben shrugged, jumping into the argument.

"The kid's got a point," he said surprising Sue and Reed, "You should've told us," Hagar glanced from teammate to teammate, his eyes landing on Elena who suddenly winced in pain.

"Alright, enough!" Reed snapped as he quickly put out the fight, "We'll talk about this later!"

Hagar shook his head as he shot an unimpressed stare at Reed, "What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Elena gave a unamused laugh before taking a sharp breath and holding her head, "Guys!" she called out in pain before looking up at them, the outer part of her left eye was slightly dripping blood, "He's here," she quickly changed her skin making the bleeding stop.

The moment they were out of the helicopter, the team rushed into action. Elena flamed up and flew over to the London Eye while the rest of the team ran there. Once she was high enough, Elena directed her wind so she could slow the fall in time for Sue to form a force field around it. The shield covered the circumference of the ride, giving Elena something stable to push the wind against. Reed stretched out from the other end and began to weave his body around and gripped the cables. Ben pushed up the structure from underneath and they all began to form the right balance to put the wheel back into place.

Meanwhile, Johnny stood on the ground, staring at the whirlpool within the River Thame that grew larger and larger. His eyes caught silver. The Surfer shot up into the sky and gave one cautious glance over his shoulder causing Elena to scream out in pain, her flames flickered before she caught herself, the surfer didn't even see this happen before speeding off to an unknown location.

Elena emitted another scream, faltering again when Johnny burst into flames to go after the Surfer, "No, Johnny!" Reed shouted. Johnny got struck by a snapping wire causing him to go off course and into Reed's arm. Flames spread up and down Reed's arms as they shrunk to normal size. The Eye began to fall from the loss of support and Elena cried out, when she felt something stab her mind. Her flames flickered out, making her fall to the ground with a crack of the concrete. Her head felt like it was about to explode or something.

"Guys! What are you doing?" Sue yelled, stepping back further than the end of the pier. Ben grunted as the weight of the Eye leaned against he nape of his neck.

Reed hovered in the air, having adapted the best he could to Johnny's powers, "Ben! Lift it higher!" he yelled. Ben grunted before groaning an 'I'll try.'

He lifted the Eye higher above his head. The centre of the Eye lined up with the support tower. Reed used Johnny's flames to weld the surfaces together making the Eye stand still.

Sue kneeled down, feeling weak from the strain of holding up the Eye. Elena was fully collapsed, coughing up blood as she struggled to stay conscious. Ben panted as he regained his strength. A family stood a few feet away, the father had been trapped in one of the pods when Johnny switched powers with Reed were now reunited with his family and looked at Ben with a smile.

Reed ran past Johnny, making sure to switch powers when he did, "Sue!" he called seeing her barely stand on her own feet. Reed rushed to her air, gently holding her up. Johnny stepped forward to help her but Reed shot his arm out, "Stay back…before you get somebody killed."

Elena spit the blood out of her mouth before feeling another sharp stab in her mind this made her groan, "Johnny," she looked up at the blonde and he moved to go next to her. He saw the crack in her diamond skin slightly growing. He reached out to touch it when Reed interjected.

"Oh my god," Ben gasped. The Five looked over at the River Thames which was now completely dried up. In the center, a giant crater.

 ** _AN: WTF is up with Elena's powers?! Like seriously! Anyways. Leave a review and no flames!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	11. You Call Me Glow

"What the hell was that?" General Hagar shouted. The group was assigned to the United States Embassy in London while they got debriefed. Elena was being hovered by Johnny, he constantly asked if she was okay and each time she said that she was.

"We'll make adjustments. Next time we'll be ready," Reed said as he glanced at Johnny who ducked his head from meeting his gaze.

"Next time? There's no next time," the General spat, "You can't handle this alone. That's why I'm bringing in some help."

"Who could possible help?" Elena asked as she still felt iron on her tongue. Johnny reached to take her hand but stopped short, "Who will help you if not us? Who has the experience in this that we don't?"

"You bring in more soldiers and weaponry, you're gonna put innocent people in danger!" Reed stated.

"No more than you already have," a voice said, "And, my dear Elena, you should know that by now."

Victor Von Doom waltzed out of the doorway. Elena's eyes significantly widened as her entire form shook while changing her skin to diamond. She backed up so much that she stumbled into the circular table and she still shook. Johnny looked at her with concern before glaring at Victor.

"No," she whispered.

"Victor," Reed said, not believing the sight before him.

Victor laughed, a sound that sent Elena into a state of trembling, "What's the matter? Afraid of ghosts?"

Ben roared and charged like a bull before pinning Victor to the concrete wall behind him. Elena closed her eyes, almost in pain before gripping the table so hard it started to crack.

One of the General's soldiers raised their gun, cocking it and aiming it at Ben, it was Danny. Elena's eyes quickly sparked with anger as she set the metal on fire, causing him to drop it.

"Since you're a ghost, you won't mind if I break your little neck," Ben growled making Victor's face contort.

"Let him go," the General ordered.

"Don't you know who that is?!" Johnny asked which made Elena flinch ever more.

"It's Victor Von Doom; he's here under my orders."

"Ben, let him go," Reed said. Ben looked at him then moved as Victor dropped slightly with a cough, "How is this possible? How are you still alive?"

"No thanks you you five, that's for certain," he bit back as he brushed invisible dirt off his jacket.

"Von Doom's made contact with the alien. He's got valuable information," the General stated.

"Information that might just help save the planet," Victor walked forward, his eyes locking with Elena's who was slowly becoming more and more flight risky, "Now, let's be clear about this, shall we?" he paused, "I hate you," Elena gritted her teeth slightly, "All of you."

"Feeling's mutual," she growled.

"But for the world's stake and… We need need to work together to survive."

"General, we know firsthand - you trust Victor, and you're gonna regret it," Reed stated as he stole a glance to the General.

"Never trusted him," Elena whispered making Johnny glance over at her, she was still in diamond form.

"So far the only one I've regretted trusting here is you, Richards."

Elena felt a slight stab and winced, something Victor caught, "Reed, don't agree to this," Ben pleaded.

Reed glanced around his team then focused on Victor, "Let's see what he's got."

* * *

"I made a detailed recording of our little encounter."

 _"_ _All that you know is at an end," the Surfer stated. Energy beamed through his arms and shot into Victor._

"Well?"

Ben stepped beside Victor, "I like the part where he knocks you on your ass," Johnny and the rest of the team struggled to suppress their laughs, except Elena. She was lost in her own mind, in diamond form, next to Johnny.

"Look at where the energy levels surge when he attacks me," the clip rewinded to all everyone to see what Victor meant, "There. See what happened?"

The General sat up, "The energy was channeled through him but it originated from his board," Reed stated.

"If we can separate him from the board we can cut off his power completely," Victor's plan made Elena flinch.

"And that's what we have to do," the General demanded.

"How?" Johnny asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't need you people, would I?" Victor snapped back.

"You three should get started right away."

"No," Elena firmly stated making the General pause and turn to the diamond girl.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she growled as she stood, "No. I am not working with him."

"You don't have any choice, you're working with Von Doom."

Her eyes narrowed, "I'm not working with him," she pointed to Victor, "Because the last time I was in the same lab as him," her skin was tightening, "He drugged me, kidnapped me, tortured me mentally AND physically and then tried to kill me, along with my team!"

"Elena, you should do this," Danny stated making her widen her eyes at him.

Johnny suddenly knew why she didn't bring up her time with Victor, she was still suffering from it, "Find yourself someone else," she looked at the General, "If he was any other man," she took one step closer to the General making Danny reach for his gun, " ** _You_** would gladly put a bullet in his head," with that she left.

Victor just smirked, "I'm glad we have the opportunity to collaborate again. I'll try to talk slowly so you can keep up," Victor patted Reed's shoulder before leaving.

Sue immediately looked to her brother, "Johnny."

The blonde simply nodded before running after Elena. At first he didn't know exactly how to find her, or know if he could even find her. That was until he saw some of the military people nervously look at a door before rushing past it. Johnny looked at it and saw the sign saying: _Ladies Room_. Course she picked the most obvious places to hid in.

Slowly Johnny pushed the door open, carefully listening to the sounds coming from inside of the bathroom. Then he heard it. Soft sobs and clinking diamonds. Peaking his head in, he didn't see her at first, but when he stepped through, he felt as if his whole world had shattered.

Elena Brighton was sitting under the sinks curled up in a ball, crying in her diamond form as the ground around her changed into the clear gem.

"Elena," Johnny whispered causing her head to snap up in fright and push herself into the wall. She stopped seeing that it was Johnny and all of her defences fell as she cried harder into her knees. Immediately he sat next to her, wanting to reach out and take her in his arms.

 _Stay back…before you get someone killed._

Reed's words were haunting him. He didn't mean any harm. It just happened. Too busy thinking he didn't realize that Elena had moved closer to him, to the point of barely touching.

"Talk to me, Glow," Johnny whispered, " ** _Please?_** "

He saw her shake harder before taking a deep breath as she looked up, "I still remember it like it was yesterday."

 ** _Johnny looked at her with orange eyes making her slightly step back, he shot another fireball, this time at Elena. Moving her arm up to shield her face it collided with her bare skin. Elena's diamond skin couldn't protect her from Johnny's flame, not when it was intentionally used to harm her. A scream ripped from her throat as she gripped her arm, the smell of burning flesh filling her nose._**

 ** _Johnny's eyes widened in horror when he realized what he had done. His stomach sinking when he saw her face contorted in pain, pain he caused. She cradled her burnt arm, a whimper electing from her lips whenever she moved. Reed appeared at her side, gently taking her arm to see the damage. His face paled when he saw how bad it was._**

 _Elena flinched as her nightmare continued to torture her mind. The drug Reed gave her was strong. Making her oblivious to the world around her. Oblivious to Victor Von Doom approaching her, with a collar making of the same metal as his skin. Leonard held the remote for the collar, to raise the electricity levels as he pleased._

 _"_ _Johnny," she whispered in her sleep, flinching ever so slightly. Victor smirked at her diamond covered form as he pulled out the needle filled with a hallucinating and intoxicating drug. He nodded to Leonard who grabbed his phone to play the recording._

 _"_ _Elena?" Johnny's voice came out from the device, "Elena?" those two sounds of his voice made the diamonds vanish, leaving Elena laying on a table in her Fantastic Five suit. Victor smirked before plunging the syringe into the soft neck of hers. Grey eyes snapped open as she pushed him back. Her hands ripping out the needle before reaching for SOMETHING to throw at Victor. She managed to grab a microscope and chucked it at him before reaching for a few other things with her wind, they formed immediately to diamond._

 _"_ _Elena, let's talk about this," Victor warned as he smirked, seeing her stumble slightly while shaking her head._

 _"_ _What did you do?" her words were slightly slurring together, "Victor?"_

 _Before she could react her body swayed and Victor caught her, but not before he clasped the collar onto her neck._

"He had that assistant of his drag me back to his building, place me in the genetics lab. I've never felt a drug like that before," Elena whispered as Johnny looked at her in shock.

"What happened next?" he asked, dreading the answer.

 _Elena struggled to wake up, but then snapped to attention when she realized she couldn't move her arms, legs or neck, "What the—?"_

 _"_ _Like them?" a dark, sickening voice cooed to Elena as she furiously looked around, she was in a lab, much fancier than Reed's. Suddenly a light filled the room from a screen in front of her._

 _"_ _Victor?" she whispered as a feeling of dread sank into her stomach._

 _"_ _I hope you don't mind," his metal face appeared before her, this looked like a recording, but she couldn't be sure, "I needed to borrow you from the….team," Elena furiously pulled at her restraints only to have them slightly crack her skin, forcing her into diamond form._

 _"_ _Where am I?" she demanded harshly, but the drug he gave her was strong. Things were blurring from her memories and she had to shake her head clear to look at Victor Von Doom._

 _"_ _Safe…for now," Victor's voice made her skin crawl as she watched him, no guilt or remorse where in his eyes, only pure evil, "Unlike your dear uncle."_

 _"_ _WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Elena screamed as she felt tears come to her eyes. Suddenly a burst of energy came through her restraints making her scream in agony._

 _"_ _I gave him what he always wanted," Victor purred, "Normalcy," Elena's eyes widened as she saw a image of her uncle, struggling out of the chamber Reed was building, human, no longer an orange rock man, "But unfortunately, the rest cannot have that."_

 _She let out another scream as she was electrocuted, "What do you mean?" she softly asked as tears came down her face, she was shaking. In fear. In pain. In vulnerability._

 _"_ _Reed, well, he's gonna feel hell,_ ** _freeze_** _over on him," he showed an unconscious Reed, hooked up to a freezing machine, "Sue. Now Sue, she has a choice. You or me," she could practically see him smiling._

 _"_ _Sue will NEVER choose you!" Elena screamed out in anger but another douse of energy was sent through her system._

 _"_ _I plan on that," Victor smiled, "So I'm going to rip out her heart, slowly, intimately, before handing it over to Reed as he takes his last frozen breaths."_

 _Elena gasped when her head felt a sharp pain, almost seeing what was happening to them in the future if Victor got his way, "You'll_ ** _never_** _get away with this," she said with so much emotion in her voice, she swore she was back in her old apartment, with her dead parents on the floor._

 _"_ _You, I will save, making you change anything I want into diamonds. You will be my own slave."_

 _"_ _People will come for me, you know that and so do I. Someone will come," Elena smiled victoriously before it vanished as she remembered her night in the hospital, stitching the area's where her father cut her._

 _"_ _Yes, Johnny…"_

 _Elena's struggles froze at his name, her body began to shake as she looked at Victor with wide eyes, tan skin coming through. White hair hanging by her cheeks, "No," she breathed, "Please no. Victor. Don't."_

 _Victor didn't pay attention to her as he lifted a heat tracking missile, "He will go out with a bang," he looked Elena dead in the eyes through the screen, "Just like he always wanted."_

 _The screen went black as Elena screamed out. Her chair was turned to look out the windows, towards the Baxter building. Elena screamed in pain as another jolt of electricity went through her body. She struggled in the chair she was held in. Furiously glancing around she saw a familiar initial of a man she despised. V._

 _"_ _Think, Elena," she whispered to herself before letting out another scream, "Think!"_

 _Suddenly her entire body stopped living as one as she saw a missile fire, "Johnny…"_

 _She saw flames erupt before going through the city with the missiles trail behind it._

 _Everything was blurring as her childhood came back to her. Shaking her head she hardened her skin, forcing herself to pull on the restraints even harder._

 _Elena saw an explosion and let out a heart breaking scream, knowing exactly who that missile was tracking. Then she got angry, her diamond skin rubbing against the metal furiously as her body began to heat up._

"I melted the restraints and came to you guys as soon as possible," Elena finished, her eyes down cast on the grey tile floor, "The drug he used on me…made me hallucinate my memories and the present into what he said. Those words…. **felt** real to me," she glanced up at him as tears stained her cheeks, "Then I saw your explosion."

Johnny's mouth dropped open, "And you thought I was dead," she softly nodded before looking at her hands, "Was that what you were dreaming about? What caused all the nightmares?" another nod, "Glow," she didn't look up to him, "Is that why you were avoiding us?"

She slightly nodded her head, "I had to make sure you were real or not…sometimes I can't tell the difference between reality and Victor's drug."

Johnny's eyes softened as he looked at her, "And how do you know?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and slightly laughed, "You call me Glow."

He looked at her in pure shock. Before he could do anything she leaned her head on his shoulder. A shock went through them both, feeling their powers switch. Johnny wrapped his arm around her shoulder slowly, their powers switching back to their original owners and only a small amount of blood tricked down her face.

Her mind was slowly cracking. Her hard diamond mind, cracking into small lines. Slowly becoming unstable, things kept coming into her mind. It hurt and more importantly she saw. Saw images of millions of dying and then her own memories resurfacing, it was like someone was going through her mind like a timeline. Reliving every moment.

They sat like for a while, in complete silence, taking comfort in their own presence. Elena heard the gentle thrum of Johnny's heart, only to have it pick up in speed when they heard Ben calling out for the two of them. She looked up at the door and cringed.

"I don't know if I can face them," she whispered.

"You won't be alone."

Right then and there, Elena smiled softly, seeing that Johnny was **_finally_** getting it.

* * *

Johnny launched a dart at the board. It landed in the cork just above the center, "How can we be working on the same side as Victor?" he asked as he launched another dart into the circular board.

"You got me, pal. Things were a lot simpler when I could just whale on the guy," Ben replied as he glanced to where Elena was. Johnny went through one last dart but it set ablaze and landed on the board.

"Oh shit!" Johnny rushed forward with his curse and poured the nearest drink on the flame to douse it. He then turned to the owner who stood behind the bar, "I'll pay for that."

"You better," the owner replied before handing Elena her drink. She paid for the board before returning to the table but stopped to talk to a couple of guys.

"I'll tell you Ben, I'm starting to feel like a complete screwup," he said despondently while collecting the darts.

"Hey, hey," Ben responded, "You're not a complete screwup."

"Thank you," Johnny said with a gracious nod of his head before resuming throwing darts.

"Yeah, I can change pretty much anything into diamond," Elena slightly smiled as she leaned against the table where 3 guys where having a drink.

"Look, kid, it's out of our hands. It's up to the eggheads now," Ben pointed out.

"You think Reed's right about the whole 'end of the world' thing?" Johnny asked uncertainly.

"He's never been wrong about this kind of thing before."

Johnny returned to his seat in front of Ben and leaned back into the chair, "You know I'm not exactly a deep kinda guy."

"Really?" Ben was so sarcastic that Johnny couldn't help but smile.

He leaned forward and crossed his arms over the table and began to play with his beer bottle, contemplating his words, "But if Reed's right about this is it," he raised his sad blue eyes to meet Ben's, "How do you want to spend your last few minutes?"

Ben was a little taken back by the question, it wasn't something he had thought about. He just didn't expect Johnny to ask him, "Part of me would like to go out fighting," he paused, smiling fondly in a way that Johnny knew exactly who he was thinking about, "But the truth it…I'd like to spend my last couple of minutes, holding Alicia."

Johnny mulled over Ben's soulful words. He leaned back into the chair and averted his gaze to the ceiling for a second, "That sounds pretty good," he was thinking back to the moment in the bathroom but then he realized his thoughtful expression might have caused Ben to think otherwise, "I mean not the 'holding Alicia' thing. She is your girlfriend, not mine. Want nothing to do with her," Ben didn't look amused, "Not to say that she is not attractive. She is very attractive, she's so attractive. Even with the—" he waved his hand before his eyes, "I can't even think of a guy who wouldn't want to—" Ben slammed a clenched fist on the table, rattling the wood, ending Johnny's rambling and making Elena look towards her uncle with concern. Johnny titled his head, not afraid but surprised by Ben's anger as Elena approached them, "What I meant was…It's nice to have somebody."

Her mind went to the moment she opened her eyes after fighting Victor, she loved the way he gently held her towards him, so careful and loving. His mind went to the same moment, her looking up at him with relief and happiness in her grey eyes. The cracks of Ben's rock like face softened considerably. Silently he raised his glass of beer towards Johnny, "Well, you got me pal."

"Aw," their drinks clinked together. Elena realized in that moment that she might not have forever. Elena's boots clinked as she slowly approached them, Johnny looked up. His blue eyes locking with her grey ones. She had an unguarded uncertainty in her stormy gaze, but she didn't shy away.

"What?" Ben demanded, noticing Johnny's alert body language.

"Glow," he responded with a dazed look in his eye. Elena approached them silently; her eyes latched onto Johnny.

"John—"

"Lenie," Ben boomed, startling her slightly, enough for her hands to harden, "Finally got that drink."

"Sorry, got held up at the bar, Uncle Ben," she grinned, shaking the diamond off her hands and looking down at her uncle, "Hey."

"How you holding up, kid?" he inquired curiously. Ever since returning she was even more silent and distant than of late. Her lips quirked slightly as she sat next to her uncle.

"It's…uh…" she took a deep breath, "I've been better," she confessed, "Victor being in the same building as us," her eyes locked onto Johnny's, "It scares me."

"It'll be fine," Ben tried to promise making her grey eyes go back to her uncle, "I should check up on Alicia," he stood up, the metal lets of the chair scrapped against the tile, "I'll meet you guys back at base."

"See you," Johnny acknowledged with a raise bottle of beer.

"Bye Benny," Ben leaned over and placed a small kiss on top of Elena's head before leaving the bar. The two looked at each other, Johnny could tell she was struggling to say something, "What were you two talking about?"

Johnny slightly furrowed his brows as he took a sip of his beer, "Glow," he started but saw the pleading look in her eyes, she needed to be distracted, "Last moments, how we want to spend them."

"Oh?" she questioned taking a long sip of her own beer.

"Ben wants to be with Alicia," this made Elena sadly smile as he kept his eyes on the bottle in his hand, "I thought it was nice. To have someone."

Elena reached her hand across the bar to take his, but he stuffed them under the table, making her sigh, "You're not alone," she said making him look up at her, "You'll never be alone," she gave a half smile, "You'll always have me," his jaw slightly went slack as her words as she picked up a dart to fiddle with.

Eventually the two left the bar and head back to base. Elena was playing with that sapphire ring on her hand making Johnny look at it curiously. She always wore it, even on missions. Did Danny give it to her all those years ago?

"Where did you get that?" Johnny asked suddenly, grabbing her attention, "The ring, I mean," her eyes went to the small circle in her hand and she softly smiled while brushing a piece of white hair behind her ear.

"It…it uh…It was my moms," she struggled out, glancing at him, "It's her birthstone," she slightly shrugged, "Always wore it, well, not always," she said as the walked down the sidewalk, "She didn't wear it **that** night."

"Why?" Johnny cautiously asked.

"As long as I could remember, she said that as long as she wore it, the stone would protect her," a single tear went down her cheek, "I guess she didn't want to be protected anymore."

This lapsed them into a somber silence, Elena still playing with the ring while Johnny watched her.

"How would you like to spend them?" she knew what he meant. She looked up at the sky, searching for the stars she had seen up close before turning to look at him.

"With the one I care most about," Johnny's heart skipped a beat while staring into the strength and vulnerability shining in her storm eyes. He didn't know how to react, every fibre within him was saying to kiss her. Consequences be damned. But Elena wasn't someone Johnny wanted to take that risk with. She was continuously opening her heart to him, he just couldn't.

"I would like that," he whispered making her look at him with a hopeful smile on her face before they continued their way.

* * *

Reed worked non-stop to find the link between stopping the surfer and the board. He was working his ass off and he was always coming to the same dead end. It was actually Sue who helped him out, she brought up the word 'pulse' which sent Reed in one of is inventor crazes in which he completed the design for the object that was to separate the surfer from the board. Victor approved immediately and they began to work on the finished design to ensure that it would work properly.

"So exactly how does this work?" General Hagar asked the team, slightly surprised Elena was there.

"When we activate the field, it'll separate him form his board, making him powerless," Reed explained as the simulation of the pulse machine was displayed for him to see.

"It's like a fish in a net," the General gasped.

"Yeah," Sue and Reed said at the same time.

"In theory, anyway," Reed finished.

"How long before this is operational?"

"Three hours."

"Three hours," he repeated in disbelief.

"I know, I can only go so fast, since apparently I'm working by myself now," Reed said whilst he crossed his arms. Sue and Elena stole a place at the other side of the large room.

"What do you need to make this happen?" the General asked.

"Actually, there are a couple of things."

Sue dropped the papers she was holding and nodded Elena over to walk with her. They rounded the corner to find Victor working on something other than what he was supposed to be doing.

"What are you doing?" Sue demanded, in what Elena thought was the best mom voice ever.

"Don't you knock?" he replied.

"You're supposed to be helping Reed in the lab."

"Tell him not to worry," Victor responded. He was way too calm for Elena's liking. She took a step forward and leaned against the metal shelves next to her, "I'll be there to hold his hand and finish his little project for him," Sue looked over at the gear that was placed on the table Victor was working at, "Anything else?" he asked, obviously growing agitated as Elena stepped up to she stood next to Sue.

"How'd you do it? How'd you come back?" Elena asked making Victor chuckle.

"Scares you, doesn't it? Hmm?" Victor moved closer to Elena, she visibly tensed as he got closer but didn't change forms, "The things I can do."

Elena blinked before her eyes narrowed, "Did you know that I can change your entire body into a diamond before slowly shattering it into a million pieces, leaving nothing but sparkling dust," Sue looked over at Elena in shock, she'd never heard her speak in such harshness before.

"Give it your best shot," Victor taunted. Elena's brows twitched before she scoffed.

"Just get back to the lab."

* * *

 ** _AN: Cute, fluffy then serious shit. Elena's walls are crumbling down… Johnny is getting closer… Victor is still an asshole. Please leave a review and no FLAMES._**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	12. Worried About You

Danny was waiting for Elena who was leaning against the wall beside the door to the men's locker room. Johnny went in to take a shower a while ago so she knew where he was. He walked out seconds later with other but a towel around his waist. He saw her immediately and smiled.

"Hey Glow," he said.

Elena opened her mouth to speak but Danny's voice over took the hall, "We're leaving to intercept the Surfer in ten minutes, with or without you," he was glaring at Johnny. He nodded but then stopped to look at Elena.

"Wait, were you just waiting outside the bathroom to try and catch me in a towel?" he asked. The water that ran down his his bare chest turned to steam as a killer smirk covered his smug face. Elena slightly laughed before crossing her arms over her chest, but she slightly jumped when she heard the growl coming from Danny, "That was a joke. I was joking," he slightly laughed, "Why are you so down on me? You don't even know me."

"I know you **very** well," Danny hissed, "I read your personality profile," Elena and Johnny's brows lifted in curiosity and acknowledgement. They both wanted to see this 'personality profile' the army had compiled for them, "Confident. Reckless. Irresponsible. Self-obsessed, bordering on narcissism," Danny listed resentfully.

Johnny mulled over his words for a moment as a small grin came to his lips, "Okay, so you do know me."

Elena watched them both carefully.

"All I've see is a guy that almost got his team killed."

The two Fantastics slightly flinched at his statement but Johnny quickly recovered, "Okay," he nodded, "I've been a little off my game lately."

The man shook his head, looking at the Human Torch with disgusted eyes, "This isn't a game," he walked away before shooting Elena a glare, leaving the two to their thoughts.

"Helicopter?" Elena whispered glancing up at Johnny.

"Yeah."

* * *

 _Black Forest, Germany_

* * *

The team approached the site in which they were to intercept the Surfer.

"Sir, he's holding his position north of here," Danny reported to the General.

"Good."

"General," Reed said, leading the Fantastic Five up to him, "Give us a one-mile perimeter."

"Forget it, Richards. You had your shot, and you blew it. This is a military operation now, so jam the signal, get out of the way, let us do our job," the General pushed past Reed and began to walk away.

"You don't understand," Reed began.

"No, you don't understand. So let me make it clear for you and your pack of **freaks** here. I'm the quarterback. You're on my team. Got it?" Elena flinched when he said 'freaks' as she felt Victor move behind her to overlook the conversation, "But I guess you never played football in high school. Did you, Richards?" the General asked. His lips turned up as he laughed as he laughed to himself.

"No, you're right," this caught EVERYONE'S attention who was listening, "I didn't. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd," Reed dropped his head before continuing, "And 25 years later…I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century, one of my greatest friends is able to hack into any system on the planet if I asked," Elena smiled, "I'm engaged to the hottest girl on the planet, and the big jock who played quarterback in high school," Reed stepped forward towards the General as Elena crossed her arms while leaning her weight onto her hip, "Well, he's standing right in front of me, asking ME for MY help. And I say he's not gonna get a damn thing…unless he does exactly what I tell him…and starts treating my friends and me with some respect."

The General cocked his head before turning around and walking away, "Give him what he wants."

Sue practically swaggered up to Reed and bumped his hip with hers, "I'm so hot for you right now."

Johnny came over and wrapped his arms around Reed with one around shoulder, "Me too!" their powers switched. Making Ben and Elena stifle a laugh.

"Alright, guys, be careful. Let's get to work."

* * *

The Fantastic Five carefully walked through the forest to find their determined point that they were to place their machines. They came across the new crater that broke the dense cover of trees.

"This is it," Reed said, "You have your coordinates. Set up your posts and rendezvous back here," Each other them walked off in their different direction. Reed and Johnny set theirs up quickly. Johnny removed the top hatch and the pulse emitter opened up to reveal a bulb that he was going to place the tube into. Johnny, Reed and Ben set theirs up quickly. Sue opened hers and inserted the tube to break the signal.

Ben slipped the tube in his and started the emitter. Out of the woods, walked a bear. It opened it's jaws and roared at Ben, "Hey. You scared me there, Smokey. Look at you. You're cute," the bear raised its head up and roared again. Ben frowned before roaring as loud as he could. The bear whimpered before walking away, "Yeah, that's right. Keep running, Boo-Boo! Overgrown fur ball."

Reed checked each person's status on his small tablet. He noticed that Elena was the only one who hadn't activated her emitter.

"What's your status?" Reed asked over the comms.

"Yeah, I'm good to go," Ben replied.

"Same here," Johnny added.

"Good to go," Sue said. That left Elena. She opened her emitter and allowed the globe to rise.

"Almost there," Elena said, she went to complete her emitter but then she heard something. Trees creaked and bent to her right. Carefully, she looked up and watched as the Surfer appeared through the trees. Elena slightly gasped before pressing her comm., "Guys, we have a problem."

"What's wrong?" Reed immediately demanded.

"He's here," Elena stated as the Surfer straightened himself up to a fully standing position on his board.

"Elena, get out of there. Right now!" Johnny yelled as he turned around and ran full speed to where Elena's co-ordinate was.

Elena's gaze darted to where her emitter sat. She inched her hand closer to it in an attempt to activate it but the Surfer countered her movement by flying closer. Elena watched with wide eyes as the surfer began to fly closer. Her skin immediately changed as she looked him dead in the eyes but he shook his head and her diamonds vanished, not on her accord. He leaned in close to her and looked over her face.

Elena swallowed before opening her mouth to speak, "Why are you destroying our planet?"

"I have no choice," the Surfer replied. His voice was deeper than Elena thought possible and it sent chills through her as he spoke. Johnny broke through the trees, panting as he ran. He knew Reed wasn't far behind him.

"ELENA!" he yelled.

"Wait!" she said, turning to look at him. The Surfer looked too and his gaze lingered on Johnny before returning to Elena as she spoke, "What do you mean you don't have a choice? There's always a choice."

The Surfer was silent before he spoke again, "Not always."

Elena shook her head, "Why are you trying to destroy us?"

"I am not the Destroyer."

General Hagar observed the scene through a pair of binoculars as Elena spoke to the Surfer. He leaned precariously off the edge of the board to speak to her, "Come on, Richards, just jam the damn signal."

"Maybe he needs a little persuasion," Victor suggested. The General looked over at Victor.

"Fire one over the top."

The missile launched from the truck to the Surfer. It soared through the air before coming into sight. Reed and Johnny saw the missile first. The Surfer and Elena saw if right after them. The Surfer drifted in front of Elena, holding his arm out and forcing her behind him. Elena's eyes widened at the protective motion as she took a step back. The Surfer flew up into the path of the missile and raised the end of his board. The missile melted into the silver and disappeared immediately.

"Open fire," the General commanded. The order was repeated throughout the compound before they finally opened fire. The missiles soared through the air. The Surfer deflected most of them but those he didn't exploded in the air. Johnny rushed over to Elena and placed himself in front of her.

"Elena," Reed said as she rushed towards the emitter. She snatched the tube up to slide it into the globe.

Explosions boomed in the air as the Surfer devastated the area where the General once was.

Johnny lit his chest on fire, "Let me just—"

"No," Reed held his hand up, "Wait."

"Reed," Ben said as the Surfer picked up speed as he flew right toward them.

"Come on, Lenie," Reed said, staring at the screen that displayed the activated emitters. Elena dropped the tube into the globe and pressed the button on the top.

"Alright, it's up," she said. Reed held his tablet and pressed the button to activate the Tachyon pulse.

"Got him."

The pulse emitted through the air. It hit the Surfer hard, causing him to clutch his head in pain. His silver body seemed to melt right through the board as he struggled to keep his hold. The pulse rattled through the air and it smacked Elena full force. She clutched her head, mostly her gash, as she let out a blood curdling scream. It echoed through the forest as pain ripped through her body. Johnny turned in shock. The scream passed through him and hit his body with a pang. He rushed over to her to catch her but Elena collapsed to the ground as she whimpered.

The Surfer fell to the forest floor as the ouster of his skin wore away to a dull grey. He reached for his board in agony but it was useless. Victor shocked the Surfer with the electricity that ran through his body before standing over him.

Raw lightning struck every nerve of Elena's body as Victor shocked the Surfer. She screamed again, making both her and Reed remember the screams that came from the genetic lab years ago. Johnny shook and struggled to anything but watch. His misery was ended when the pain stopped. Elena laid on the forest floor, every inch of her body ached as tears dripped down her face, the diamonds that covered her gash was cracked, leaking small trickles of blood. Johnny pulled her close to him as her finger clutch his suit tightly.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Victor chuckled darkly before turning to the board.

"Victor, stay back," Reed demanded. The team ran through the trees to where Victor stood, Johnny carrying Elena bridal style.

"You're the quarterback," Victor stated with his hands held up in surrender. Elena caught sight of the Surfer laying motionless on the ground. Struggling out of Johnny's grasped, their powers switching to normal, she wobbled before kneeling down by the Surfer, who was looking at her blood and tear stained dirty face while she placed her hand gently on his head, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she whispered.

Units of armed men flooded into the small area with all of their guns trained on Elena and the Surfer, "Eyes on. Keep your weapons trained!" the General looked at the team, the Surfer, and Victor before turning to Danny, "Perimeter secure."

* * *

 _Jakutsk, Siberia_

* * *

Elena watched with worry as the armed men dragged the Surfer into a building. She turned to look at Sue who sent Reed a nervous stare before getting out of the car to follow the men and find the General.

"But, General, we had an agreement," Reed yelled.

"Calm down. The enemy has been captured — mission accomplished," the General explained. Elena hated the deepen look on his face, it was like he didn't care.

"Where is he?" Sue demanded.

"Contained," a man called the General's name from the hallway. Said man turned and looked at the person who called for him, "Mr. Sherman," Elena looked past the General and locked her eyes on Mr. Sherman. Recognizing him immediately and his techniques in medical, she stepped back, away from him. Johnny eyed her warily, "If you'll excuse us, we have work to do."

"I want to be there for the questioning," Reed stated. He walked forward a few steps as if he were to follow the General but he turned around and cut him off.

"That's not gonna happen. Please make sure out guests remain here comfortably," the man uttered a quick 'yes, sir' before slamming the door behind him. Elena winced at the noise before she wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

Reed raised his hand to his forehead and rubbed it once before turning to Elena, "Are you alright?"

She shrugged before quickly sitting down on the table. Johnny moved to her side but didn't touch her.

"What happened?" he asked her. Elena shrugged before thinking back to everything that has happened with the Surfer.

"It's the Surfer. I'm linked to the Surfer," Reed shook his head, trying to think of another solution, "Think about it. Every time there was a sighting, or he got near me, my powers fluxed. When I got hold of him in New York he must've taken part of my defence. The incident in the woods confirms it," Elena sat up straighter, "The Tachyon pulse hurt the Surfer. He put up a defence, my defence which left me channeled to him and in turn hurt me. That's why this hasn't healed!" she gestured to her gash, which was growing larger by the day, "When I grabbed him, I connected with him, just like I do with anyone who I change, but he has a part of me STILL connected to him. It felt like…" her voice drifted and she glanced at Johnny who knew what she meant.

"Like when Victor had you, only ten times worse," Reed finished making her nod, "Lenie, if I knew."

"You didn't know. I didn't know. I'm fine but the Surfer isn't. We need him and his board back."

"How?"

Elena closed her eyes and sighed, "I don't know."

* * *

"Are we prisoners?" Johnny asked as he eyed the security camera in the corner, "How did that happen?"

Reed tore his gaze away from the map on the wall, "Apparently, they don't want us interfering with their methods," Elena squeezed her eyes shut as she felt an invisible strain on her limbs. She was anxious and isolated herself to the corner of the room behind the door.

"I can't even imagine what they're doing to him in there," Sue said.

"I say he gets what he deserves," Ben said.

"How can you say that?" Sue asked.

"I'm just sating that maybe the General is right about this. The guys was about to destroy the planet. He said to himself," Ben moved from the surface he was sitting on and paced while he spoke.

"I don't get it," Sue said glancing over to the white haired girl in the corner, "Why did he protect you?" she saw Elena rub her arm as if some bug bit her.

"Maybe he thinks you're cute," Johnny said motioning for her to sit next to him, she did so but winced a few times.

"He said he wasn't the destroyer," Reed said as he crossed his arms and began to pace.

"Uh, maybe he lied," Ben said.

Reed stopped pacing and thought for a moment, "We need to get inside there and talk to him…but under the radar," Reed looked at Sue as he spoke, she smiled as she caught onto his meaning.

"I'm going," Elena spoke up.

"He'll only speak to her, I can just tell," Sue insisted, "I can spread my invisibility to her. We've been practicing," Elena smiled in gratitude as Reed nodded. Johnny wanted to desperately to grab her hand but didn't, instead, he nudged her chair, gaining her attention.

"Be careful, Glow, alright?"

Elena smiled as she looked at him, "When am I not?"

* * *

"I know you are there," the Surfer said. He looked up from where his gaze was fixed on the floor. Sue and Elena became visible just by the door as the older woman took her hand off the younger's shoulder. He watched as Elena climbed the small steps to where he was strapped in. He watched her every step was as if she were to hurt him.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," Elena gently said and gave a warm smile.

"I know, but I have already harmed you greatly," the Surfer stated in his clear voice, his dull silver eyes looked at her gash.

"This?" the Surfer nodded, "I've been through worse, but I'm alright. It was your pain I felt, though, I'm more worried about you," Elena gently brushed her hand over his grey cheek. She wanted him to know that they weren't going to hurt him like the others had, "What's your name?"

When the Surfer didn't answer, Sue stepped up next to Elena, "Come on. You must have a name. I'm Susan."

"I'm Elena," the Surfer was silent as he processed their words, "You said you _weren't_ the one trying to destroy our world. Then who is?"

The Surfer looked wistfully into the distance, "The one I serve."

"Who do you serve?" Sue pitched in, but the Surfer was silent.

"Please, I'm trying to help you," Elena pleaded, "But in order to do that, you have to tell me the truth. I want to help you. Please," she was patient with the Surfer, more patience that Sue ever gave her credit for.

The Surfer tipped his head back and closed his eyes. The two girls watched as the grey on his chest transformed into an image, "It is known by many names. My people called it…Galactus—The Devourer of Worlds," the Surfer spoke slowly, but Elena heard the pain in his words, she watched as the image pulsed as the glowing orb spun, "It must feed on energy to survive…both thermal and organic."

"How could you willingly serve this thing?" Sue asked.

"But I must," the Surfer replied, his face never changed as he spoke.

"Doesn't it bother you? All those worlds and innocent people you've helped destroy!" She was an inch away from yelling.

"My service spared my world…and the one I love," the Surfer tipped his head down with the sudden revelation.

"Why did you try to protect me?" Elena softly asked.

The Surfer looked up at her, "Because…you remind me…of her," he looked away almost like he was embarrassed.

"Is that why you have part of my diamonds?" Elena finally asked the question that was burning her.

The Surfer turned to look at Elena full on, "No. That is not why. I am linked to you because I wished to see what life was like upon the planet I was about to destroy. I am suppose to learn things as I serve. When you stopped my source, I was intrigued. After realizing that I must _break_ your hold and _absorb_ part of it in order to learn, I did so. Your mind was filled was so many things," her grey eyes watched him, "You have felt my pain and I have strained you from healing. I have done nothing but harm you since I arrived, it was not my intention and I apologize."

Elena softly smiled, "It's alright," she reached forward and took his hand, hoping he would smile but he didn't. The door behind them creaked. Sue's hand shot out and grabbed Elena's shoulder which turned them both invisible, "Could you stop the Destroyer if you wanted to?"

"It is not I who draws the Destroyer here. It is the beacon."

"What's the beacon?" Sue whispered. The guard at the door got closer to see the Surfer speak.

"The source of my power."

"Your board," Elena spoke. The Surfer nodded before catching sight of the guard at the door. He looked back at the two girls solemnly. Wishing to see one of them once more.

"Take joy in the last few hours you have left…for He is nearly here."

* * *

 ** _AN: I'll update as scheduled, maybe sooner. Please leave a review and no FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	13. Catch

"And the board is what's drawing it here," Sue said.

"How do you fight something that eat planets?" Johnny asked in complete doubt.

"We have to get the board and lead it away from here before it's too late," Reed explained his half made plan to the group.

"We, do you think the General will go for that?" Ben asked. He brought up a good point.

"He'll have no choice."

* * *

Victor watched as the surface of the board pulsed and rippled in the chamber. A power hungry glow appeared in his eye.

"Thank, General….but I'm afraid, the truth is," Victor turned to face the General as he stood off to the side, "That, sometimes, Reed is right."

* * *

"Hey, you, come here," Ben said to the guard that stood just outside the heavy metal door of their room, "Let me ask you something."

The five of them ran down the hall only to find a heavy stone door flying down the hall. Sue ducked to the side and rolled across the floor. Johnny grabbed Elena quickly and tucked her into his chest as he pulled them to the ground.

"Awww, crap," Ben said whist the door flew straight at him. Johnny, Elena and Sue all hopped up and looked around.

"Ben!" Johnny and Elena shouted while switching their powers back. Ben pushed the stone away form the wall and watched as it fell to the ground.

Ben managed to pry himself out of the wall, "Ow, okay, that one hurt."

"Where's Reed?" Sue asked as she looked around the hallway to try and find him.

"Back here," Reed's voice was muffled and sounded as if his mouth was not in its normal shape. Ben moved away and the group saw a very flattened Reed. He was pressed flush against the wall and he was very lucky that he had his powers, otherwise he would've been killed. Elena watched as he pulled away from the wall and he returned to normal shape.

Sue, Johnny, Elena turned and ran down the hall as the other two followed behind. The room was trashed, everything was either shattered or bent. The board? Gone.

"Reed!" Sue called as all sets of eyes focused on the body that used to be the General. Half of his body was missing as he was frozen in a kneeling position on the ground. Elena covered her mouth as she painfully gasped. No one deserved to die like that.

"Victor. We've got to get it back."

"We need to get the Surfer," Elena stated, "He's the only one who understands it's power."

"Even if we break him out of this place, how are we gonna catch up to Victor?" Ben walked around the room to change his position. Reed nodded as if he knew something no one else did.

"Leave that to me," Reed typed a code into his small tablet. The others, except Elena, were left standing in wonder as they saw that nothing happened, "Don't worry. It'll get here. Let's go get the Surfer."

Ben crashed through the wall that led to where the Surfer was being contained. The Surfer looked up form the ground at the team that walked through the hole in the wall.

"Halt! Don't move!" a guard yelled, "Stay where you are!" Sue raised her hand and trapped the two guards in bubbles. Ben smashed the glass doors that lead to the Surfer.

"Pal, this is the luckiest day of your life," Ben said. Elena immediately ran forward changing the straps into diamonds before shattering them. Once he was free, Reed stepped forward and looped the Surfer's arm over his shoulder to help him walk. Once Reed was comfortable, the six of them moved through the wall and into the hallway.

"What the hell is going on?" Danny stood in the middle of the hallway with his gun raised at the Fantastic Five plus Silver Surfer, "Where is General Hagar?" Danny yelled.

"He's dead," Reed answered. Danny lost his stance for a moment before quickly recovering.

"If we don't get him outta here, we're all gonna be," Ben explained, trying to hurry the conversation up so they could get out

Elena took a step forward, drawing Johnny and the Surfer's gaze with her, "Danny," she started, "The world is literally at stake here. You have to trust us," she paused for a moment, "Please."

"We need to get to the roof. It should be here by now," Reed hurried up the stairs as fast as he could with a person leaning on him. Ben threw the door open when he reached the top of the winding staircase.

"What should be here?" Ben asked.

"Is it even ready?" Elena turned to Reed. The team all ran through the snow and onto the roof. They gazed in wonder at what looked to be a hovercraft flew around the band and landed in front of them.

"Holy crap," Ben gasped.

Johnny turned around and looked at Reed, "Reed," he said before running off to inspect the hovercraft in full detail, "This is by far the coolest thing you have ever done!" he yelled as he ran impatiently up the ramp to the craft. Johnny jumped up and down while he laughed as he got a better look at it. Elena smiled at his actions while the engine revved in the front as he looked at it, "Hemi?" he asked.

"Of course," Elena had rushed over to Reed and helped support the Surfer, "Okay, Ben, you get inside. Johnny, you fly behind us."

Johnny shook his head, "Oh dude, you gotta let me fly this thing."

"Forget about it. I'm the best pilot here. I should drive," Ben argued.

"Are you serious?" Johnny joked, "We'll be lucky if this thing can carry you!"

"I can fly circles around you blindfolded!"

"Ah, SHUT UP!" Elena yelled, startling everyone who stood there.

"And move it! I'm driving," Reed firmly said.

Ben and Johnny exchanged a glance before moving to get into the hovercraft. Elena and Reed helped the Surfer into one of the three seats in the center section, which Sue took the third seat. Ben took the back and Reed took the front. Johnny went next to Elena and looked at her.

"I'll follow next to you, okay?" Johnny asked as she strapped herself in. She nodded and looked up at him.

"I'll be alright," she gave him a sly wink before settling back in her seat as Reed started the hovercraft and flew up with Johnny close behind them.

"Okay, we're officially enemies of the United States of America, Victor is out there somewhere with unlimited power and we've got a giant intergalactic force that's about to destroy our planet in less than 24 hours. Did I miss anything?" Ben repeated everything that was happening into the comms that linked everyone together.

"I've got a lock on Victor's energy trail," Reed said, "He's headed over Southeast China."

Elena glanced over at Johnny who was flying next to her, he had a look in his flaming eyes that made her softly smile at him. Reed sped up as he drove through the energy trail he found. Elena watched on her screen, tracing the energy source through the air.

"Norrin Radd," the Surfer suddenly spoke, Elena perked up form where she was looking at her monitor and looked at the grey man.

"What?" She asked gaining Sue's attention, both looked at him expectantly.

"I was once called Norrin Radd," the Surfer replied as Johnny eased back to fly closer to Elena.

"Norrin, we're gonna need your help to save our world. Do you understand?" Norrin nodded before looking over at Elena. She looked so much like his love, that it almost hurt. The gash on her head was well protected by her diamond abilities, something he learned quickly through her mind.

Reed watched as Victor's energy trail disappeared from the screen. He shook his head in disbelief just moment before a wave of energy rocked the hovercraft. Elena was thrown against her restraints making her release a yelp.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?" Ben asked as Reed looked above everyone to see Victor fly over them.

"Victor! The board is drawing the Destroyer here! You have to give it up!" Reed yelled as if it would actually do anything.

"You know, I've never been the giving type, _Reed_ ," Victor replied. Reed yelled a quick 'hold on' before steering the craft down in evasive maneuvers to try and loose Victor. Elena held on and watched the screen as it displayed the route Reed was trying to take. Johnny flipped in midair to face Victor. He flew towards him at full speed but Victor easily countered it by using the water underneath them to 'douse him.' Johnny yelled and flipped through the air.

Victor aimed his force at the craft and created a crafter under them before quickly filling it back up with water again. This caused a huge shock wave to travel through the Hemi and rock it while it flew.

"We're sitting ducks!" Ben yelled.

"We're gonna have to split up!" Reed yelled back slamming his fist done on a red button on the console of the craft.

"What?!" Sue and Elena yelled.

"This ought to be fun."

Propellers and compartments appeared and opened all around the craft. Elena and Sue watched as a steering mechanism appeared which Sue took in her hands as she prepared to fly herself.

"Stay close to me, Sue!" Reed yelled as the craft separated into three sections which all flew on their own.

Sue just only managed to pull up as their section began to nosedive to the Earth. Elena felt Victor move behind them and seconds later the rock face in front of them came tumbling down. Elena and Sue let out a quick scream before miraculously making it out to follow Reed's pod. Elena turned back and looked at Victor who was able to damage the Great Stone Wall of China with one flick of his hand. The shards of bricks came flying through the air, directly at Reed. He was able to take precautionary measure to swerve around the bricks.

"He's really pissing me off!" Sue yelled. Another section of the wall was demolished as Victor clenched his fists together. Sue wasn't able to dodge the blast in time. Knowing he had to help them, Reed stretched his arm out and yanked it back towards him. The pod containing Sue, Elena and the Surfer was yanked towards Reed and out of the way.

"Surf's up, metalhead!" Ben yelled making Victor turn quickly and watched with wide eyes as Ben flew closer to him. He held his arm out and Victor ran right into it, causing him to turn off course and flip through the air. Once he was stable again, Reed flew directly up to him and hovered in the air.

"Victor! Only the Surfer can stop the Destroyer! But he needs his board!" Reed tried yet again to reason with Victor but it seemed to only push him further.

"Come and get it, Richards."

"Victor!" Johnny yelled, he turned to se that each pod was strategically placed around him with Johnny on his tail.

"Let's all go for a spin!" Victor cried out as he began to spin in the air. A massive surge of all was created as each pod was sucked into it with Johnny not far behind. Elena screamed as she gripped her restraints.

As they exited the air sure, they were sent hurtling through the air and towards a brightly lit town. Two pods crashed in the in the same street as they skidded across the ground. Elena gripped her restraints tighter as she was knocked around, before finally deciding to jump out of the pod and roll to a painful stop on the concrete. Sue groaned as she looked at the seats next to her, completely empty.

Elena struggled to her feet as she kept her eyes strained on the surroundings. She saw the Surfer as he stood in the middle of a group of people while they stared and gawked at him as he turned to face them. Elena struggled her way over only to freeze. The Surfer gazed up upon Victor who materialized a long spear in his hand. Elena followed his gaze forcing her into a run into his direction. The distance between the two only seemed to grow as she ran faster, flames licking her feet and hair.

"Norrin!" she yelled. The Surfer displayed no emotion as Victor arched his hand back to throw it. Reed and Sue threw off their restraints and ran towards the two while watching Elena run.

"Catch," Victor stated with malice woven tightly into his words as the spear left his hand. Elena's skin changed into diamonds as she made her decision. Her feet carried her merely inches in front of Norrin as the spear that was meant for the Surfer, pierced her chest.

* * *

 _ **AN: I MADE IT SHORT TO PISS YOU ALL OFF! HAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! I'm getting close to the last few chapters. I'm purely sticking to the movies so there won't really be a long after story, only this. It's called a slow burn for a reason.**_

 _ **Recommendation! Make a sad ass playlist for the next chapter!**_

 _ **Xoxo - Scar**_


	14. My Flame

_**CUE SAD ASS PLAYLIST!**_

* * *

Elena was only able to look down that at the spear that stuck out from her chest. She didn't know if it was the diamonds in her body that blocked the pain or if it just hadn't hit her yet that she had been impaled.

"ELENA!" Reed screamed making Sue freeze in spot, watching Elena fall to the ground in horror. The Surfer watched as well and only stepped out of the way as she fell to her side. Reed slid to the ground, supporting Elena's body and white dots clouded her vision. Ben ran over, his heavy feet making crashing noises as they slammed against the ground.

"Oh my god," Johnny gasped as he landed, "No no, please, no," he moved quicker than anybody there as he kneeled to the ground.

"Elena, Elena come on," Reed said, she was only able to support herself on her elbow as she watched the others crowd around her.

"Johnny, don't touch her," Ben stated. Johnny watched, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"No, please, god no," he pleaded as sobs etched their way into his voice. Johnny backed up a step and covered his mouth with his hand. The spear hardened into diamonds, before shattering into dust, her body normal. Elena coughed before collapsing on the ground, but Sue was quick to catch and cradle her head in her lap.

"Oh, god. Oh god," Ben gasped, brushing Elena's white hair off her face. Everything seems so unreal. They couldn't believe that she was actually going to die. Elena curled into herself, the pain was hitting her.

"You need—" she let out a moan, the pain taking over her sense until it fried her nerves, "You need to get the board," her breaths came in labored puffs as death seemed the ghost closer and closer. Johnny came forward again, his hand hovering over hers.

"Elena…" he whispered.

"Do it," she pleaded before gasping in pain again, she held her chest in vain, as blood started to seep through her fingers. A deep rumbling echoed through the air, drawing the attention of everyone on the whole street. They all turned and gazed to the skies.

"He is here," the Surfer stated. Deep grey storm clouded began to swirl in the distance. Lightning crackled through the air as the end drew nearer. The Destroyer was here and it showed no signs of stopping.

"Reed," Ben said, his own tears as he looked at his niece, dying before him, "Reed," he looked up at Ben before finally realizing something that just might save the world.

"Victor's gotta have a pulse emitter linking him to his board. We take it out, we can separate him from his board."

"He's too strong for me," Johnny said.

"I could whale on him, if I could get close enough," Ben said, "But he could see me coming from a mile away."

Reed turned and looked at Elena who was rapidly blinking away the darkness edging on her vision as Sue held her head in her lap.

"It would take all of us," Reed said.

"Or maybe just one of us."

Everyone fell silent as they realized Johnny's plan, "We don't know what it could do to you."

Johnny turned and looked off into the distance as if he were posing for a magazine, "Let's not make this about me."

After a moment, Reed nodded. He knew the plan would work but he didn't know how far Johnny would go and if he would get hurt in the process. Reed set his hand over Ben's and Sue placed hers over Reed's. Johnny kneeled by Elena as she painfully turned her head to him.

"John—ny," she managed to say, "I —"

"Save it," Johnny weakly smiled, "Tell me after," she nodded before he did something no one thought he would EVER do in public. He leaned in and fitted his lips with hers at the same moment he placed his hand atop everyone else's, gaining everyone's powers and fitting them into his body. Ben's structure, Reed's elasticity, Sue's ability to disappear along with forcefields, and Elena's diamonds. It hit him harder than he thought when he took on her diamond form, taking in her memories. Her parents deaths, Ben helping her with a project, the storm, the first day in the facility, the way she was entranced by his flame during testing, he felt her pain during the moment he turned against her, and the hours of Victor torturing her. Her longing for something she couldn't obtain because he was a womanizer, the way the storm moulded them to be perfect together, always stronger together. Her happiness during the two years. Her decision to sacrifice herself for Norrin, her thoughts towards her life less valuable than any of her team members. He felt an emotion wrap around him so tight that the diamonds hardened on their own. A feeling, an emotion, a phrase he might never be able to say to her.

* * *

The dark clouds of the Destroyer reached down like fingers. It broke through the air and drifted down to the surface. Tendrils of darkness swirled and turned as the Destroyer descended into the Earth.

Victor stood on the top of a high building, gazing upon the madness he created. It didn't even faze him that he was standing upon the planet it was to destroy.

"To quote a friend of mine," Victor spin around to watch Johnny appear in fornt of him. Flames licked the edge of his body but he remained normal as he floated in the air, "It's clobbering time."

Victor was only able to gasp before Johnny reared his/Ben's/Elena's fist back and punched him. Victor was sent flying back only to be jerked around as he flew as Johnny who followed with another punch. Victor crashed into a window before regaining his balance and flew towards Johnny.

On the ground, Ben grabbed an orange sweatshirt from the rack and put it on to cover his bare chest. He watched as Victor curled his fists together, causing the windows in the building beside him to shatter instantly, he gathered the shards along with chunks of plaster and launched it straight at Johnny.

Elena moaned heavily as she turned in Sue's lap. She stopped moving for a moment before opening her eyes as her breaths fell shallow, "You know, it's quite cold, without a flame inside," she muttered as she fought to keep her eyes open, "Tell Ben….to fight back."

Reed nodded and looked to her as he gently brushed her hair away as tears threatened to break his calm façade.

Using the pole atop the building to his advantage, Johnny grabbed onto it and swung around, using it as a slingshot to propel him forward. Ben raced to a local crane and scrambled up the latter when he yanked the door open, he wasn't going back on his nieces request.

Johnny fired a massive fireball at Victor then became invisible. Victor shot back with the fireball but remained relatively unharmed. Johnny froze Victor in his spot with Elena's diamonds. He wrapped himself around Victor, holding him tightly so he wouldn't get away. Rearing his arm back, Johnny landed four punches to Victor's metal face before he lit his entire body up in red and white hot flames. Victor squirmed as he started to burn. The pulse emitter on his wrist crackled and propped as it exploded. The board fell form his feet towards the ground for the pulse emitter no longer controlled it.

"You ain't going down fighting, kid," Ben said. He had somehow managed to find his way to the control booth of the tower, where he took control of the crane. Johnny unwound himself from Victor, causing him to spin around in the air, "Not without me."

Ben swung the wrecking ball on the crane around the bend until it struck Victor directly in the chest, hard. Victor was sent flying though the air and into the body of water that lay adjacent to the brightly lit city. The heavy metal that ran through his body and adorned his amor tugged him to the bottom as he sank deeper and deeper into the black abyss.

The heavy tendril of black smoke pierced through the air as the duster began to feast on the Earth. The Surfer turned his head from where he gazed upon the Destroyer. His eyes found Elena who laid in Sue's lap, her breaths coming farther and farther apart. She cradled her close as Elena looked upon the world in her final moments. Ben ran up to the group, he slowed and his eyes stung as he realized why her movements were coming farther and fewer in between. Johnny followed not far behind him. He stretched his arms out to hold her but then touched Ben's arm instead to switch back everyone's powers. Johnny carefully took Elena into his arms, her diamonds and flames returning to her. Elena's skin slowly crawled into it's diamond form, preserving it in the only way it could. As her grey eyes looked into Johnny's one final time, the diamonds reached her face. She struggled to give that sparkling look but it fell lip and her eyes glazed over and dull before changing into diamond. Forever frozen as a gem. Her last moment, gazing on the man she could never have.

Ben's eyes darted along her face, trying to find a single sign on life, but tears ran down his cheeks when he realized that there was none. Alone. After losing his sister, his brother-in-law, his fiancée, he lost the one person who mattered most. Elena. Sue leaned forward and pressed her face into Reed's neck as she began to cry as well. Johnny continuously stroked her diamond face, tears tumbling down his face as he looked to the sky before pulling Elena into him and burying his head in her diamond hair.

Norrin Radd turned his head and outstretched his arm. His board appeared from around the corner as it floated through the sky. Once the board was within reach, the Surfer stepped one foot at a time onto it. The once dull grey of his complexion was replaced with glimmering silver as he regained his power.

The black clouds in the sky twisted and turned as the end became know. Reed looked up then faced the Surfer, "You've gotta go," he said. The Surfer ignored his command and kneeled down to Elena's level. When she was in this form, she looked even more like Her, and Elena died protecting him. He moved his hand out over her face, his fingers outstretched as if he was going to grab something. His eyes widened as he suddenly appeared in pain. He twisted his hand around her chin then moving it to her blood colored diamond gash before twisting it back. It almost seemed to glow as his fingers danced through the air just inches above Elena's face. The silver on his body began to turn grey as he moved but then he stopped. He moved his hand away and slumped his shoulders, completing his great task. The Surfer gasped once before looking up to Johnny.

"Treasure each moment with her, and tell her she was right," his silver eyes went back to Elena, "We do have a choice," the Surfer spoke each word with power as if he were stating his last. He turned and began to flu into the air, towards the Destroyer. Johnny felt Elena being slipped out of his hold. Reed looked at him while somber eyes before nodding. Ben stepped forward and ran a hand down her cheek before turning away, yelling out in pain, agony and frustration.

The Surfer dodged the debris in the air as he flew into the clouds, intent on stopping the Destroyer. His flight became slower until he wasn't moving. The winds had becoming too strong for even the Surfer to fly through. A sudden burst of power shocked him as he spun around shocked him as he spun around to see what had happened.

Johnny flew behind the surfer, his hands on the board so made sure the the Surfer would be able to fly, "Thought you could use a hand," the Surfer gave Johnny was appeared to be the start of a smile before he turned to focus on the task at hand. A large spinning almost supernova appeared in the sky, "Oh my god," Johnny was able to say before he let go of the Surfer's board. The Surfer was sent flying into the spinning column of air as Johnny hung back.

Clouds dipped form the sky as the Destroyer began to descend into the craters all around the world. Magma began to seep out of the thin crust as the Destroyer sucked it in. Explosion happened all over the city as people scrambled to keep themselves alive. Ben watched as lights blew out all around them. Reed pulled Elena and Sue close to him to protect them from the spinning debris.

"Why isn't it working?" Ben demanded, turning back to face Reed while he looked up into the sky.

"We were too late," Sue eased her hand into his and squeezed it, trying to savour her last few moments with Reed.

The Surfer dipped and ducked through the clouds until he came to the center of the Destroyer. Funnels of fast moving clouds crisscrossed the area, blocking him from moving any further.

"I will no longer serve," the Surfer stated. He watched as the clouds glowed in the orange light, the Destroyer was mad, "This is the end for us both."

The Surfer went to emit a pulse but stopped. He reached back into Elena's mind one last time, capturing three moments the two shared, The Surfer stood tall and he emitted a pulse that traveled through him and his board. He slowly began to close up on himself as he glowed.

The Destroyer roared as the Surfer glowed, _"Norrin!"_ her voice even sounded like Hers.

 _Elena watched with wide eyes as the surfer began to fly closer. Her skin immediately changed as she looked him dead in the eyes but he shook his head and her diamonds vanished, not on her accord. He leaned in close to her and looked over her face._

For a moment he thought he was back on his planet, lovingly looking at her. In one movement, the Surfer stood tall and spread his arms as he accepted the fate that was set for the both of them.

 _Elena softly smiled, "It's alright," she reached forward and took his hand._

In one bright flash, the cloud collapsed in on itself as the Destroyer vanished. The cloud was ended in a bright blue flash that rippled out into space before disappearing forever.

* * *

Reed and Sue watched as the sky was set alight for a brief few seconds before everything returned to normal. Silence fell only to be broken by the sound of lights flickering on. Street signs turned on and illuminated the dark street, revealing just how close the Destroyer had gotten to destroying the planet. The people slowly began to come out from their hiding places as they checked for their loved ones and made sure they were okay.

Ben watched as whatever clouds there were in the sky disappear, "Ow," a small voice cracked. He knew that voice. Ben, Sue and Reed looked down and saw Elena blinking her eyes against the harsh light. She did a glance around before looking to her uncle, "What'd I miss?" she asked seeing that there was a calmness in the air. Ben couldn't help but laugh as a few happy tears came down his face. Reed chuckled as Sue helped Elena stand up. She was still in diamond form as she wobbled before regaining her balance and standing steady.

Johnny landed seconds after, "Hey! Hey!" Ben yelled as he chuckled to himself.

"He did it," Johnny said as he looked up at the clear sky.

 _Elena would've loved this._

"Great job, kid," Ben patted Johnny on the back.

"Whoa whoa!" Johnny jumped back as he expected their powers to switch. When Ben stayed Ben and Johnny remained Johnny, the two laughed, "Hey, wait, I'm not changing."

Johnny touched Ben again on the arm as their powers stayed in their rightful places, "Hey that's right," the two laughed as Johnny grabbed Ben by the side of the head and kissed his rocky skin. Johnny then wrapped his arms around Ben and pulled him into a hug, "Oh, okay," Ben patted Johnny once on the back before throwing him back, "Now you're making me uncomfortable."

"Okay," Johnny raised his hands in mock surrender before taking a breath to face the rest of the team. When he turned the first thing he saw was Elena. The whole world stopped as it was just them that mattered. Johnny was the first to move as he ran over. Elena's feet carried her closer and closer until she was within arms reach. He stopped right before her and looked at her amazed. He went to cup her diamond cheek, but it vanished to soft flesh, white hair and grey eyes. Tears filled his eyes as he held her tight against him as she laced her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. The two were standing in the middle of the street, in complete and utter serenity. Johnny pulled back, Elena's arms still around his neck as she softly looked up at him, cupping her soft cheeks he took in her face, memorizing every detail, "Glow," he whispered making a grin come to her face. Before anyone could blink, he pulled them into a passionate kissed. She pulled him closer before he moved his hands to lift her off the ground a few inches. Elena returned the kiss with just the same about as heat as Johnny, "You were dead," Johnny gasped as a tear rolled down his cheek, Elena smiled and wiped it away with her thumb, the strands of her hair in a soft white fire.

"I still have my flame, don't I?" she smirked, Johnny nodded and smiled before kissing her again.

* * *

"So I guess this is it," Ben said as the Fantastic Five walked down the street together. Johnny had his arm around Elena as she hugged his torso while the walked, "We all go our separate ways."

Elena glanced up to her uncle as he spoke. Splitting up seemed like such a hard thing to do as the five of them had become so close in the past months.

"No," Reed said.

"No?" Ben asked, genuinely confused as they way they were saying it.

"No," Sue repeated.

"No?" Johnny asked.

"No," Elena smiled.

"If it wasn't for the team, the whole world would be gone by now," Reed stated.

"We can't run away from our responsibilities and the people we need to protect," Sue finished, "This is who we are."

"That's what I've been saying!" Johnny said making Elena laugh.

"What about having a normal life, a family?"

"Who says you have to have a normal life to have a family?" Reed replied making Sue smile and wrap her arm around Reed's.

"So you up for another media circus wedding?" she asked, "Fifth time's a charm," Elena smiled, sarcasm never gets old.

"No," Reed chuckled, "I've got a better idea."

Ben then looked at his niece and Johnny, "Okay, when did _**THIS**_ happen?"

* * *

 ** _AN: Oh Ben…Wouldn't we all like to know? Like I said…it's a slow build, much tamer than my normal fanfics but there is a only ONE MORE to come! Please leave a review and no FLAMES!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


	15. Fire Gem

Elena smiled as she watched Johnny escort Sue down the isle to the alter. He joined her seconds later and laced their fingers together. Even though it bothered Ben, after Elena dying it opened all of their eyes that they can't wait forever to show their true feelings.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to Reed Richards and Sue Storm together," the Minister spoke until he was interrupted yet again by Reed's Palm Pilot, "In holy..matri—"

Sue leaned over to Reed, "What is it?"

"Venice is sinking into the Adriatic," Reed replied. Elena smirked, realizing that is was time to leave again.

"Oh boy. That's a biggie," Ben said to Alicia. Sue turned to the Minister again before using the exact same line Reed used in their previous wedding.

"Could we just, skip to the end?" Reed looked at her in shock as the two younger members let out a laugh.

"Yeah, uh-the love these two share-"

"No, the very end," Reed urged him even more. Elena and Johnny were struggling to contain their laughs.

"Yeah, great," Elena gave a sympathetic look to the Minister who looked so prepared for this wedding, just like the other ones, "Uh, do you have the rings?"

Ben stepped forward and handed Reed the rings. The couple took them before slipping them on each other's fingers. The looked happily at each other but when the minister forgot to continue, they turned and looked at him.

"Oh! I now pronounce you man and wife and you may kiss the bride," Reed and Sue leaned forward and pressed their lips together in the kiss the had been waiting for. They were finally married.

"Okay," Sue sounded like she was on Cloud 9 and didn't want to come down, "We should get out of here."

"Yeah," Reed agreed. The two newlyweds all but ran down the aisle down to where the hovercraft was parked.

"Got to go, hun," Ben said kissing Alicia once before going to the hovercraft where Elena and Johnny already were. They reached the hovercraft just when Sue turned towards Reed.

"I have to throw the bouquet," Reed smiled and leaned back as Sue turned towards the woman that had gathered to catch the flowers. Sue turned and let out a laugh before throwing the bouquet over her head. The women shouted as they stretched for it. Sue turned around to watch as Elena crossed her arms.

Johnny leaned down next to Elena and held their hands together in front of their faces, fingers pointed, "Care to join me?" he asked. Elena's lips spread into a wide smile as she moved both their fingers towards the bouquet. The red flowers suddenly burst into a glittery flaming puff of dust, that sparkled down around the women. Everyone spun to face the two as silence fell upon the area.

"Sorry," Elena shrugged.

"Reflex," Johnny smirked before taking Elena's hand. The lavender dress she had on top of her suit suddenly vanished as she burst into white flames, diamonds glittering underneath, Johnny burst into his own flames before the two took off into the sky. The hovercraft took off into the air. The children all around them laughed and shouted and waved as the hovercraft and two flaming bodies, flew into the sky. The three section separated into the air as each flew in a different direction. Smoke trailed behind them as they twisted and turned in the air. As the three pods and two flaming people flew away, the Fantastic Five logo sone bright in the air, showing everyone that they were safe from whatever threat may come.

* * *

 _Six months and four days._ Johnny thought as he woke up that morning. _It's been six months and four days since the world almost ended. It's been six month and four days since I fought off Victor alone._ His heart sank as he sat up. _It's been six months and four days since Glow died, but it's been six months and four days since she came back._

"Stop thinking so much," a sleepy voice groaned next to him, "I can practically hear your head working."

Johnny smirked as he watched Elena look up at him with grey eyes, her tan skin was pushed against the lavender sheets as she brushed her short white hair out of her face. Her nose twitched before smiling, "Good morning, Glow," he whispered as she closed her eyes and hummed a good morning back.

 _Why am I so nervous?_

"Johnny," she sighed, practically hearing him stressing. Sitting up onto her side and propped her elbow up to support her head she looked at him after fixing the tank top she wore to bed, "Hey," she cooed running her hand over his cheek, "What's going on?"

Johnny looked over her concerned face, eyes focusing on the white glittering scar on her temple that was three inches long and then the other rather fist sized white glittering scar that was on her chest, "Glow," he whispered stroking her cheek, "Not too long ago you said the words to me. All you have to do is ask. And I did. I asked a lot of questions, because I was concerned and worried about you, then after what happened with the Surfer, things just became even more clearer when I realized that I couldn't live my life the way I lived it anymore."

"Johnny," Elena said making his rambling stop, he was talking so fast she was afraid he'd croak, "Breath. And just talk to me," she gave a bright smile when he took a deep breath.

"I've asked you a lot of questions, but none that are important as this," Elena immediately sat up when he pulled a blue box out from under his pillow. Her grey eyes widened as she looked up at him, "Elena Annabeth Brighton," he started making her face soften, "Glow. Seeing you impaled with a spear in your chest made me realize something," she looked at him with the same sparkling look she's given him everyday, "I love you," they hadn't gotten to saying that yet, "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you and it took you dying and then undying to realize that," he let out an airy chuckle, "And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you," he opened the box revealing the prettiest diamond ring she'd ever seen. It was sparkling, simple and beautiful, tiny diamonds covered the slim band which framed the larger diamond like flames. It looked like a fire gem, "Glow, will you marry me?"

Elena didn't think. She moved. Tackling Johnny into a large kiss that nocked both of them over and onto the bed in their room, which was once hers. Fire exploded from their kiss, but the room was fireproof, including their pyjamas. Elena pressed her body against Johnny as she felt his flames dance with hers. She pulled back when she heard him laughing, "Why are you laughing?"

Johnny looked at her as both of their flames vanished and he smiled, "You haven't answered!" he laughed making her throw the blue box at him. Defeat hit him much harder than the Tiffany box and he sighed before looking up making him freeze.

Elena was sitting crossed legged on the bed with the ring on her slender finger, allowing it to glitter in the rising sunlight she had the same look on her face whenever she looked at Reed and Sue together or Ben and Alicia, pure happiness. She glanced up at Johnny and smirk, "I think that answers your question."

Before he could move she darted out of the room, screaming at the top of her lungs for Sue and Alicia to wake up. He could hear Ben yelling at her to shut up and Reed asking if she was okay. Johnny chuckled before glancing at the window. He stopped seeing parts of the glass diamonized.

 ** _Yes._**

 _Johnny Storm and Elena Brighton_

 _The Human Torch and The Fire Gem_

 _Married on August 15th_

 _They have 2 children_

 _James Michael and Alexa Marie_

 _Both have their parents flames_

 _They grew old together as the Storm family_

 _But there's only one…_

 _Fire Gem_

* * *

 _ **I OPEN AT THE CLOSE**_

* * *

 ** _AN: AWWWWWWWWWWWW! it's done. I can't believe it. Like I seriously cannot believe it! This honestly means so much to me and it brings me to tears that this story is over. I cannot even describe what you guys mean to me for sticking with this for so long and giving such positive feed back. I believe I've come far as a writer and hope to expand more in my other stories._**

 ** _Do you like the ending? I didn't want to go into too much of what happened afterwards, I wanted to show how grateful the characters were to be alive and well since life is so precious. I've loved writing with these characters and have had a lot of fun sitting in my living room with a latte next to me writing for hours as sad music pours out of my computer._**

 ** _If you have any questions feel free to send me a message and I will get back to you ASAP. I'm working on some other stories, some are on HIATUS since I've sworn to only post COMPLETED stories instead of going one chapter at a time. I'm working on THREE Captain America/Avenger stories. Transformers. The Hobbit maybe two. Lord of the Rings. Percy Jackson. Hunger Games. Several Harry Potter stories. Mass Effect. Halo. Once Upon a Time. Fast and Furious. And much much more! Please, if you haven't already. Check out my bio. I have several links on there for pictures and my Pinterest account. I'll have my YouTube channel linked in there soon, if not now, so you can check out what's happening._**

 ** _I love you all so much and stay alert for any new stories that can pop up just around the river bend!_**

 ** _Xoxo - Scar_**


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